The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has been dragged to court by the Ekiti State Ministry of Justice over the dismissal of Omolola Olajide, a policewoman resident in the state, for being pregnant out of wedlock.
Part of the co-defendants in the suit, said to be “in defence of the woman police officer’s rights” are the State Commissioner of Police and the Police Service Commission.
Recall that on January 27, 2021, the said policewoman was dismissed for being pregnant out of wedlock. This sparked outrage by Nigerians, who accused the police of discriminatory law against women and called on Human rights groups to fight for her right.
The police, in its defense, said the dismissal was in accordance with Section 127 of the Police Act and Regulations Cap. P19, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 which provides that “an unmarried woman police officer, who becomes pregnant, shall be discharged from the force and shall not be re-enlisted except with the approval of the inspector-general.”
However, the Ekiti state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Olawale Fapohunda, in suit FHC/AD/CS/8/2021 filed before the Federal High Court, Ado Ekiti Judicial Division, is, among others, seeking a declaration that Section 127 of the Police Act and Regulations, which provides for the discharge from the force women, who become pregnant while unmarried, as unconstitutional.
In a statement by the Special Assistant to the Attorney-General on Media, Olalekan Suleman, on Sunday, “Fapohunda has reviewed the said police regulations and found several provisions in violation of sections 37 and 42 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) as well as several regional and international treaties to which Nigeria is a party to, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.”
The suit also seeks to determine whether by the combined provisions of sections 37 and 42 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), and Articles 2, 3, 5, 18(3) and 19 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the provisions of Section 127 of the Police Act and Regulation Cap. P19, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, are not unconstitutional, null and void.
Fapohunda said that “seeking an order nullifying Section 127 of the Police Act and Regulations as well as an order of perpetual injunction restraining the IG, the Ekiti State Commissioner of Police and the PSC from implementing the said provisions.”
The state Attorney-General added that a written letter to the IG offering support of the Ekiti State Ministry of Justice in conducting a gender audit of the Police Act and Regulations has been written.
He said the state government is committed to eradicating all forms of discrimination among women which has lead to the enactment of several laws, including the Gender-Based Violence (Prohibition) Law, 2020 (as amended) and enabled policies aimed at protecting the rights of women in Ekiti State.
Fapohunda also noted that the International Federation of Women Lawyers and several other women rights groups in the state had written to him concerning the matter the policewoman.