Court States Police Regulation On Unmarried Pregnant Female Officers Inequitable.
The National Industrial Court sitting in Akure, Ondo State has held that the provision of section 127 of the Police Act and Regulation 127 which applies to unmarried women police officers getting pregnant while in service but does not apply to unmarried male police officers impregnating females while they are in service, is discriminatory against women police officers.
In a landmark judgment delivered today, Justice Dashe Damulak accordingly struck out the regulation for being inconsistent with Section 42 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Article 2 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights which abolishes discrimination on basis of gender.
The judge also held that the claimant, Miss Omolola Olajide has a right to challenge the constitutionality of section 127 of the Police Act and Regulation 127 thereof.
Miss Olajide of the Ekiti Police Command was dismissed on January 26, 2021 by the former Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, for getting pregnant while being single.
She proceeded to court to challenge her dismissal on the ground that the police authorities had discriminated against her since her male counterparts are not dismissed in similar circumstances.
In the suit filed on her behalf by the law firm of Falana & Falana & handled by the Chairperson of the Women Enlightenment and Legal Aid, Mrs Funmi Falana, Miss Olajide listed the Nigerian Police Force, the Inspector General of Police and the Police Service Commission as defendants.
