Police say female officers getting pregnant outside wedlock is embarrassing

The Ekiti State Police Command says it is embarrassed by the action of one of its female officers who conceived out of wedlock.
Olajide Omolola, a police corporal, was recently dismissed from the Force for getting pregnant before marriage, with authorities citing Section 127 of the already abolished Police Act and Regulation that forbids it.

Omolola's dismissal has been met with criticism from the public, but the Ekiti Command's spokesperson, ASP Sunday Abutu, has cautioned Nigerians to not use emotions or personal opinion in analysing the matter.

He told Vanguard on Thursday, January 28, 2021, that the former police officer agreed to adhere by all guidelines when she signed up and was enlisted in April 2020.

Abutu said, "In your own establishment, 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. There is nothing too harsh in the punishment."

The police spokesperson added that Omolola is not the first to be dismissed for a similar reason and that Nigerians should instead focus on how to fight insecurity across the country.

The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, said on Wednesday, January 27 an investigation will be conducted into the dismissal when he was questioned by journalists in Lagos.

According to Section 127, Omolola can only be re-enlisted into the Force with the approval of the IGP.

The section relied on by the Force has since been repealed when President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Nigeria Police Bill into law in September 2020.