Regulation of the Nigeria Police Regulation made pursuant to the Police Establishment Act 2020 has been ruled out by the National Industrial Court.
The regulation, which gave room for the termination of appointment of any female officer, who gets pregnant out of wedlock, was described as discriminatory by the presiding judge, Justice D. K. Damulak on Wednesday.
The judgment was delivered in the case of a female corporal, Olajide Omolola, who was sacked from the Ekiti State Police Command in January 2021 for getting pregnant out of wedlock.
The corporal, not satisfied with her dismissal, approached the court, saying that the move was peculiar to only female officers, while her male counterparts are allowed to impregnate women outside wedlock.
In a judgment delivered at the Akure Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court Justice Damulak said the police regulation was “discriminatory, illegal, null and void”.
The judge noted that the regulation was illegal because it was not applicable to unmarried policemen.
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The judge ruled that the regulation violates section 42 of the Constitution and article 2 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights Ratification and Enforcement Act which abolished discrimination on basis of gender.
Justice Damulak said, “The Court finds and holds that the provision of Section 127 of the Police Act and Regulation 127 thereof, which applies to unmarried women police officers getting pregnant while in service but does not apply to unmarried male police officers impregnating females while they are in service, are discriminatory against unmarried women police offices by Section 1(3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, if any law is inconsistent with the provision of this Constitution, this Constitution shall prevail, and that other law shall to the extent of its inconsistency be void.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the case of the Claimant succeeds in part only in terms of prayer B which is A Declaration that the provisions of Regulation 127 and section 127 of the Police Act which is against women police officers getting pregnant before marriage but does not apply to male police officers impregnating women before marriage is discriminatory, illegal and unconstitutional as it violates the Claimant’s Fundamental Right under Section 42 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Article 2 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the said provision is hereby declared null and void and struck down.”
Justice Damulak further awarded N5 million in aggravated damages to Miss Olajide for the violation of her fundamental right to freedom from discrimination.
However, the sacked officer’s prayer for reinstatement as a police officer was refused by the court as the judge upheld the submission of the police counsel, Mr. P.S Abisagbo, to the effect that she could not be reinstated as she was on probation at the time of her dismissal from the Nigeria Police Force.
Justice Damulak relied on many judicial authorities and particularly the case of Women Enlightenment and Legal Aid v Attorney-General of the Federation where the Federal High Court struck down the police regulation that placed a three-year ban on female recruits from contracting any form of marriage.