Debates have been raging and the Inspector General of Police is facing a lawsuit by Ekiti State government over the sack of a policewoman, Omolola Olajide, in Ekiti State, who was found to have been six months pregnant as a spinster in contravention of the Police Act. Here’s the opinion of a lawyer and retired Commissioner of Police, Dr Olayinka Balogun, on the matter:
‘You cannot complain of an inconvenience which you voluntarily agreed to go through’
Well – some police/paramilitary rules may appear illegal or oppressive or discriminatory in the Civil World. This is because the “regimented” life and rules in the Barracks are not the same as those outside.
The common case of “shaving” a recruit’s head (which is actually done to identify him in a crowd in a case where he jumps fence while in training) may look to civilians as autocratic or even barbaric. The point is that a regimented life remains what it is.
A lady in the Force is not like any other lady outside. She would not be allowed to mix with, not to talk of marrying a “criminal”…all in the interest of the same society that is crying foul now. If there is anything that the society does not like in our regimented and unusual life, they are better pursued legally for redress and change rather than criticizing it emotionally. After all, some of these issues are known to the recruit before coming in. The law is “volunti non fit injuria”. You cannot complain of an inconvenience which you voluntarily agreed to go through.
CP Olayinka Balogun Rtd, psc, fsi, BL, PhD
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