Valvabox Valvabox
Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) Aishatu Baju has confirmed that police regulations mandating the dismissal of unmarried female officers who become pregnant while in service have been officially removed.
Baju, Nigeria’s highest-ranking female police officer, disclosed this while speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday.
She emphasized that laws discriminating against women in the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have been removed to promote gender inclusivity.
When asked about the 2021 case of Omolola Olajide, an unmarried police corporal dismissed in Ekiti State for being pregnant, Baju clarified that such dismissals no longer occur.
“That Section 127 and any section of the Police Act and regulation that has gender discrimination have been expunged, looking at the Police Act of 2020 and the police reform that is currently going on,” she stated.
“The IGP (Inspector General of Police) has just last year launched the Nigeria Police Gender Policy just to make sure that there is complete eradication of any form of gender discrimination.
“I can tell you that the Nigeria Police has come of age, and the IG is intentional about inclusivity and making sure that the Nigeria Police is an equal opportunity institution,” she added.
When asked specifically whether unmarried female officers can now remain in service if they become pregnant, the AIG responded, “Yes.”
Olajide’s dismissal had sparked widespread criticism, prompting the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to challenge Section 127 of the Police Act in a Federal High Court in Abuja.
However, the court ruled that police officers were aware of the regulation upon joining the force and dismissed the case for lacking merit.
Undeterred, the NBA took the case to the Court of Appeal in Lagos. In May 2024, the appellate court struck down Sections 126 and 127 of the Nigeria Police Act, which had previously allowed the dismissal of unmarried pregnant officers.
The post Law Dismissing Unmarried Pregnant Policewomen Abolished – AIG appeared first on Naija News.
