Amotekun Dismisses Six Pregnant Female Recruits Over Health, Safety Concerns
The Ondo State chapter of the Western Nigeria Security Network, also known as Amotekun Corps, has dismissed six female recruits after they were found to be pregnant during medical screening.
The decision, according to officials, was taken to protect the health of the recruits and their unborn children.
The affected women were among approximately 125 female applicants who had been undergoing medical and physical assessments as part of the agency’s latest recruitment and training exercise.
The three-week training program is described as physically demanding, with rigorous drills and field assignments aimed at preparing operatives for community-based security operations.
Brigadier-General Adetunji Adeleye (rtd), the Ondo State Commander of Amotekun, confirmed the development, emphasizing that the dismissal was based purely health-related grounds.
He stated that the recruits were deemed unfit to continue the exercise due to the risks their pregnancies could pose under intense training conditions.
“Our training is intense, physically rigorous, and not advisable for women who are pregnant. We cannot compromise their safety or that of the unborn children,” he said. “We have advised them to take care of their health and reapply during future recruitment once they are medically fit.”
The move comes as part of a broader recruitment drive aimed at strengthening the capacity of the Amotekun Corps in the fight against insecurity in the South-West region.
The agency has been instrumental in combating armed robbery, kidnapping, herdsmen attacks, and other violent crimes since its establishment in 2020 by the six governors of the South-West geopolitical zone.
However, the dismissal of the six women has sparked mixed reactions online and within civil society circles. While some have defended the action as necessary for operational integrity and safety, others are questioning whether such policies are discriminatory or fail to accommodate the reproductive rights of female officers.
Human rights groups and legal analysts have called on the corps to make its policies on pregnancy and recruitment publicly available and to ensure they comply with national labour laws and gender equality standards.
As of the time of this report, neither the Ondo State Government nor the regional leadership of the Amotekun Corps has issued a broader policy statement on how pregnancy among female recruits will be handled moving forward.
