Outrage as Nigeria police sack single female cop for getting pregnant

Nigerians have expressed outrage over the sacking of a female corporal, Olajide Omolola, because she got pregnant out of wedlock.

They slammed the Nigeria Police Force over what they described as a discriminatory law and called on rights group to fight for the woman.

The police, in a wireless message with reference number CJ:4161/EKS/IY/Vol.2/236, DTO:181330/01/2021 obtained by Punch Metro, said Omolola was dismissed for getting pregnant while unmarried.

The signal originated from the Department of Finance and Administration in Ado Ekiti and was addressed to the Divisional Police Officer at Iye Ekiti, where Omolola was based.

The chief financial officer in Ekiti was asked to relay the information to the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System to ensure that her salary was stopped.

Punch correspondents, however, gathered that the aspect of the Act relied on to justify the sacking had been repealed in the amended police Act signed into law by the President Buhari in September 2020.

Part of the old law, which has been repealed, also made it compulsory for policewomen to seek the permission of their superiors before getting married.

A champion of police reforms in Nigeria, Dr Innocent Chukwuma, who is also the Regional Director for Ford Foundation, West Africa, confirmed that the aspect of the Act which barred unmarried policewomen from getting pregnant had been repealed.

Chukwuma, however, said the law had not yet been gazetted, hence the ignorance of its provisions by the police.

“But it doesn’t mean it should not be upheld. Gazetting is a mere administrative process. It entails officially publishing and making it available to all stakeholders and government establishments. Until that is done, they are usually reluctant to uphold the law,” he added.

A spokesman for the Police Service Commission, Ikechukwu Ani, declined comment on the matter.

The Ekiti State Police Public Relations Officer, Sunday Abutu, said the police action was based on existing law.

– Punch