Olamide Omolola, a corporal serving at the Iye Divisional Police Headquarters in Ilejemeje local government area of Ekiti state has been dismissed by the state police command for getting pregnant out of wedlock less than a year after she joined the force.
The command defended its decisions by stating that such act has breached the section 127 of the Police Act and Regulation which forbids a police woman from getting pregnant before marriage in the Force.
According to Section 127 of the Police Act, “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 journalists on Thursday, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, ASP Sunday Abutu stated that every organisations have rules and regulations and Omolola who was enlisted in April 2020 embarrassed the Force by flouting the police Act which she agreed to adhere to when she took the job.
According to the PPRO, It is against the police Act for an unmarried woman to get pregnant in the police force and the case of Omolola is not an exception adding that she joined the force less than a year ago and she got pregnant without a husband.
“People bringing emotions and personal opinion to it should not be the case. 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.
” Don’t forget she got enlisted into the Force not up to a year and there is no record of 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 noting that she would not be the first to be dismissed from the Force for similar reasons.
The PPRO enjoined residents and stakeholders not to be emotional with her case but join the Force in enforcing the laid down rules and regulations guiding the conduct of officers.
