The Ekiti State police command has defended its decision to dismiss a policewoman, Olajide Omolola, for getting pregnant out of wedlock less than a year after she joined the force.
Omolola, a corporal serving at the Iye Divisional Police Headquarters in Ilejemeje Local Government Area of the state was dismissed from the force last week for breaching the section 127 of the Police Act and Regulation which forbids a woman in the Force from getting pregnant before marriage.
Section 127 of the act reads, “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.”
Speaking with Tribune Online on Thursday, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, ASP Sunday Abutu noted that every organisation has rules guiding their conduct.
He said that Omolola who was enlisted in April 2020 embarrassed the Force by flouting the police Act which she agreed to adhere to when taking the job.
Abutu advised the public not to be emotional with her case but join the Force in enforcing the laid down rules and regulations guiding the conduct of officers in the country.
According to him, “It is very much there in the Police Act, about anyone that is coming in especially a woman on when she could get pregnant after some years. But in her own case, she joined less than a year ago and she got pregnant without a husband. It is against the Police Act.
“People are bringing emotions and personal opinion to it; that should not be the case. In your own establishment as a journalist, you have your own rules and regulations and no matter how small or big the rule is, nobody should go against it or take it for granted.
“Everyone in the Force knows that you must introduce someone as your husband; that is it! So getting pregnant without doing this is an embarrassment to the Force – for a policewoman to get pregnant without a husband. There is nothing too harsh in the punishment.
“Don’t forget she got enlisted into the Force not up to a year and there is no record of her traditional, church, police marriage.”
The PPRO, however, revealed that she could still be recalled into the Force by the Inspector General of Police, calling on people to exercise restraint in the matter.
Abutu explained that Nigerians should focus their strengths in the fight against insecurity across the country, adding that she would not be the first to be dismissed from the Force for such reasons.
“As for the law if you look at it very well, the person can still be brought back with the approval of the Inspector-General of Police, but the Commissioner of Police has done the needful here. You will not be happy as an organisation to make a law, no matter how useless it is and it will be flouted, after all, it was given out before employment.
“If you love your man, it will not take you anything to do a traditional or church wedding to stamp the affairs.
“I want our people to know that we have serious issues in the country today, especially insecurity and all our energy should be focused on how we can defeat the criminals rather than raising emotions about the incident,” the police spokesman said.
