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PSC approves gender-inclusive guidelines on deployment of police Commissioners, zonal heads

THE Police Service Commission (PSC) has approved gender-inclusive policy guidelines for deploying top officials in the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).

The guidelines provide that, at least, three out of the 37 state commands must have female officers as Commissioners of Police (CPs), and one out of the 17 zonal headquarters must have a female Assistant Inspector-General in charge.

According to a statement by the Commission’s Head of Press and Public Relations, Ikechukwu Ani, the guidelines aim to address the lack of equity and inclusiveness in the deployment of Commissioners in the NPF.

“The Commission on its Policy on Imperativeness of Gender-sensitivity in the Deployment of AIGs and CPs noted the continued practice of lopsided deployments of only male Police Officers to Zones and Commands with no fair consideration and representation of female Police Officers who are qualified for such positions.

“It observed that this will in no time portray the Police as an organisation that is anti-woman empowerment and averse to women inclusivity in governance,” Ani noted.

The PSC also approved that the NPF imbibe the principle of federal character in recruitment and deployment of Commissioners, as current deployments were unfavourable to Nigeria’s North-East and South-Eastern regions.

“The Commission observed the disproportional distribution and lopsided deployment of Command Commissioners and noted that it had become extremely important that a fair representation of all geo-political zones is always reflected in these deployments to eschew and address the feeling and sense of marginalisation and injustice by certain zones of the country in the Nigeria Police Force.

“Henceforth, request for deployment of Commissioners of Police to State Commands must ensure that the disadvantaged zones are considered first in the proposals to the Commission in order to redress the present imbalance and lopsided deployments skewed against the North-East and South-East regions of the country,” Ani noted.



According to the statement, all geo-political zones in Nigeria must have, at least, 15 per cent representation in the deployment of Assistant Inspectors-General, Commissioners of Police and Commanding Officers.

Discrimination against female police officers has been a matter of concern in Nigeria.




     

     

    Read Also:

    In 2021, a female police officer, Omolola Olajide, was dismissed for getting pregnant out of wedlock while in service.

    Olajide sued the Ekiti Police Command and the NPF over the dismissal.

    The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) passed judgment in her favour and nullified Section 127 of the Police Act, which prohibited unmarried female police officials from getting pregnant, describing it as “discriminatory.”

    Although she was awarded the sum of N5 million as damages, Olajide was not reinstated into the NPF on the grounds that she was on probation at the time of her dismissal.

    Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.

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