The Nigeria’s Police Act (from 1968) requires policewomen to seek permission before getting married, but does not require same for men.
According to Tolu Ogulesi, the special Assistant to President Buhari on New Media, the Nigerian Senate has commenced a review on this part of Nigeria’s Police Act (from 1968) requiring policewomen and not police men to seek permission before getting married.
He took to his social media page to reveal that this is part of the act and the part states that “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” is now being reviewed and the amendment was sponsored by Senator Ezenwa Onyewuchi (PDP, Imo East).
He wrote;
#DidYouKnow that Nigeria’s Police Act (from 1968) requires policewomen to seek permission before getting married, but does not require same for men?
Now that’s about to change, as @NGRSenate commences a review to repeal that discriminatory section, and others.
Here’s Regulation 127: “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.” That Regulation too is slated for repeal, in the Amendment under consideration.
The Senator sponsoring the Amendment is Ezenwa Onyewuchi (PDP, Imo East). Speaking today on the Senate floor, he said the Police Act harks back to an era “when the societal attitude to women in the workplace was very different from what it is today.”
An analysis of the Police Act and other regulatory/policy documents governing the internal & external workings of the NPF reveals a preponderance of discriminatory regulations and workplace practices that reinforce gender discrimination.” — Sen Ezenwa Onyewuchi (PDP, Imo East)
