"Discriminatory, illegal, null and void!" - Nigeria court quashes rule that forbids unmarried policewomen getting pregnant

In Nigeria, there existed a police regulation that forbade unmarried female officers from getting pregnant.

As per the regulation, a female police officer who is not married would be dismissed whenever she gets pregnant.

It is however a sigh of relief for female officers after the National Industrial Court of Nigeria on Wednesday, January 11 struck out the regulation.

In a landmark judgment, a judge ruled that the regulation was “discriminatory, illegal, null and void”.

The ruling was informed after a policewoman filed a suit challenging her sacking on grounds of discrimination since her male counterparts are not dismissed in similar circumstances.

"The court finds and holds that the provision [of the regulation], 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, is discriminatory,” Justice Dashe Damulak ruled.

Additionally, the policewoman was awarded 5m naira (an equivalent of KSh1,374,180) in compensation for the violation of her fundamental right to freedom.

It however ruled that she could not be reinstated to the police service, as she had sought, as she was on probation at the time of her dismissal.