Unmarried Police Officers Can Now Get Pregnant, Court Gives Reasons

• Female police officers who are not yet married are free to get pregnant, according to a ruling by the national industrial court
• With this ruling, the court has struck down a regulation of the Nigeria Police Force which forbids unmarried officers from getting pregnant
• The court held that the particular section of the police regulation is discriminatory, illegal, null and void

In what can be described as a landmark judgement, the national industrial court has struck down one of the regulations of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF). Regulation 127 of the Nigeria Police Force forbids unmarried officers from getting pregnant.

A female officer who gets pregnant outside wedlock will be dismissed, The Cable reports.

The incident that led to the recent judgement centres on Omolola Olajide, an unmarried police corporal attached to Iye-Ekiti station, who was sacked in 2021 for getting pregnant.

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In reaction, the dismissed officer approached the industrial court.

Delivering judgment, Dashe Damulak, the presiding judge declared that the particular section of the police regulation is “discriminatory, illegal, null and void”, Premium Times added.

The judge insisted that it “violates section 42 of the (Nigerian) constitution and article 2 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights Ratification and Enforcement Act which abolished discrimination on basis of gender.”

Meanwhile, the court added that the claimant’s dismissal could not be reversed as she was on probation at the time of her sack from the force.

However, the judge awarded aggravated damages of N5 million for the violation of Olajide’s fundamental right to freedom from discrimination.

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It was gathered that the incident occurred at midnight on Sunday, January 8. Legit.ng gathered that the police station in question has recently been renovated after being one of the casualties of the tragic #EndSARS protest in 2020.

Sources revealed that leaders in the community contributed to the rehabilitation of the police station with some of the newest and most recent infrastructural materials before it was handed over back to the Nigerian Police Force.

Source: Legit.ng