The National Industrial Court has struck down a police regulation which provides for the sacking of an unmarried policewoman who gets pregnant. Known as ‘Regulation 127 of the Nigeria Police Regulation made pursuant to the Police Establishment Act 2020,’ Justice D. K. Damulak on Wednesday held that it is illegal and discriminatory. Miss Omolola Olajide of the Ekiti Police Command was dismissed on January 26, 2021 by Mohammed Adamu, former Inspector-General of Police, for getting pregnant barely a year after graduating from the police academy while being single.
Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu
Ekiti State Attorney General and Justice Commissioner Olawale Fapohunda has filed a suit against Inspector General of Police (GP) Muhammed Adamu at the Federal High Court in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, over the sack of a pregnant unmarried female corporal, Olajide Omolola.
The policewoman attached to the Iye-Ekiti Police Station in Ilejemeje, joined the service in May 2020 and was dismissed by the police for getting pregnant less than a year after graduating from the Police Academy.
Fapohunda is seeking a court order to declare as unconstitutional Section 127 of the Police Act and Regulations, which provides for the discharge from the Police Force, policewomen who become pregnant while unmarried.
When the law is discriminatory
On
Dismissed for getting pregnant out of wedlock
She was aware of the rules Ekiti CP
It is unconstitutional CSOs
By Esther Onyegbula
The unfortunate reality that the Nigerian woman is subjected to discriminatory laws and practices at every phase especially career-wise was re-emphasised recently when a policewoman Corporal Olajide Omotola of the Ekiti State Police Command was allegedly dismissed for getting pregnant out of wedlock.
While some of these discriminatory laws and practices against women are subtly entrenched, others are loud and deeply rooted.
Since the news of the dismissal of Corporal Olajide Omotola from the Nigerian Police Force went viral about a week ago, massive reactions have trailed the decision, condemning the act even as civil societies have called on the police apex authority to reinstate Omolola.