Ekiti State Government through the state Ministry of Justice has dragged the Inspector General of Police, Adamu Mohammed, Ekiti State Commissioner of Police and the Police Service Commission to court over the dismissal of a policewoman resident in Ekiti State, Omolola Olajide, for being pregnant.
The state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Olawale Fapohunda, in the suit FHC/AD/CS/8/2021 filed in the Federal High Court, Ado Ekiti Judicial Division, is, among others, seeking court declaration that:
Section 127 of the Police Act and Regulations which provides for the discharge from the Police Force, women police officers who become pregnant while unmarried unconstitutional.
Fapohunda, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Olalekan Suleiman, on Sunday, said the suit marked FHC/AD/CS/8/2021, filed in the Federal High Court, Ado Ekiti Judicial Division, sought a determination of several questions.
The suit, according to him, asked whether by 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 People’s Rights, the provisions of Section 127 of Police Act and Regulation Cap. P19, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, are not unconstitutional, null and void.
“The Attorney-General by this suit is also seeking an order nullifying Section 127 of the Police Act and Regulations as well as an order of perpetual injunction restraining the Inspector General of Police, Commissioner of Police, Ekiti State Command and the Police Service Commission from implementing the said provisions.
“The Attorney-General has written to the Inspector General of Police offering the support of the Ministry of Justice, Ekiti State in conducting a gender audit of the Police Act and Regulations,” he said.
Fapohunda added that the litigation was prodded by several petitions from the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) and several other women rights groups in Ekiti State to his office concerning the matter of a woman police discharged from the Nigeria Police Force because of her pregnancy status.
He said: “The communication from the Nigeria Police Headquarters revealed that the woman police officer was discharged from the Nigeria Police in compliance with Section 127 of the Police Act and Regulations Cap. P19, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
“Section 127 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’.
“The AG 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 including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.”
He said the state government is committed to the eradication of all forms of discrimination against women in public and private life, adding that the state has enacted 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.