Tips to avoid being delayed by Nigerian police when driving

Posted by Felix Okoli on Thursday June 5, 2014 at 16:46:23:

In Nigeria, one of the things that causes traffic delays or Go-Slows are police check points. These check points tend to help check for criminals but it also helps to check that only valid drivers and vehicles are on the road. While the Nigerian police might be doing a good job at this, there might be at times when you'd rather not be delayed.

There are times when you are in a hurry to get to our location while driving and you find a Nigerian police man or woman flagging your car down and delays you for sometime. It can be annoying and frustration to say the least and sometimes you may end up paying a fine or tip after the delay.

1. Ensure your papers are in order: You should have a valid driver's licence and a valid vehicle license.

2. Maintain Traffic Rules: one of the reasons why a Police officer will stop and delay you while you’re driving is if you are not obeying traffic rules.
Traffic rules such as obeying the traffic light, and avoiding reckless driving should be adhered to, to avoid being flagged down and delayed while driving.

3. Avoid Over Loading your Vehicle: commercial bus drivers are always guilty of this particular offence. They overload their vehicles with passengers and goods while forgetting that there is a maximum amount of load a vehicle is allowed to carry at a time. The result is that they end up being held up by the police on the way. Always carry goods within the limits that is permitted for your car.

4. Avoid Over Speeding: Speed kills, it is the major cause many road accidents. Each road has a speed limit allowed on the road, and when you move above the speed limit, you are likely to be flagged down and in some countries; you will be issued a speeding ticket which will increase your car insurance the next time you want to renew it.

5. Avoid routes leading to regular check points: The Nigerian police normally has regular check point spots where they park and normally flag down cars. If you can avoid going through these roads, you could be saving yourself a lot of time.