VICTIMISATION OF MUSLIM NURSES: MURIC WRITES HOSPITAL
MANAGEMENT
The Medical Director,
National Orthopaedic Hospital,
Igbobi, Lagos.
14th
April, 2014
Dear Sir,
VICTIMISATION OF
HIJAB-WEARING MUSLIM NURSES
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) is an Islamic human
rights organization. MURIC is a pacific organization, peace-loving, law-abiding
and dialogue-prone. We detest violence and this is why our motto is: ‘Dialogue,
Not Violence’.
As a major mechanism in our operations, we open dialogue
with institutions, employers and agencies in order to intervene on behalf of
aggrieved Muslims.
We believe that this is better than resorting to
spontaneous violence or open-air demonstration. Our adoption of dialogue has
often doused tension in Nigeria and reduced the incidence of violence.
Sir, you will agree
with us that Nigeria has witnessed too many religious conflicts and that what this
country needs most today is peace. Therefore any
action in the workplace, school or institution which is capable of generating
religious crisis or tension of any sort should be avoided.
We were therefore pleasantly surprised on learning of the
victimization of two hijab-wearing nurses who are staff in your hospital. Mrs. Fasilat Lawal and Miss S.
O. Sanusi were issued querries by the Director of Administartion on account of
their wearing hijab.
MURIC appeals to you to quickly intervene in the interest
of peace and industrial harmony before the matter degenerates into a full-blown
religious crisis. Hijab is a religious duty for Muslim women and failure to use
it is a sin against Allah. Any employer who stigmatizes or victimizes a Muslim woman on account of
her wearing hijab has also violated her Allah-given and fundamental human
right.
Victimization of a
Muslim woman for using hijab constitutes a breach of Section 38 (i) & (ii)
of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution. The African Union Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Rights proclaims in Article 4, Clause 1 & 2 that “Human beings are inviolable. Every human being shall be entitled to
respect for his life and the integrity of his person.” Nigeria is a signatory
to this charter.
The provisions of
Article 18 of the United Nations Charter and Articles 9 and 14 of the European
Treaty of Human Rights and Articles 18 and 19 of the Treaty of Civil and
Political Rights also criminalise religious profiling.
It is therefore a crime to discriminate against a worker
on the basis of religion. It is needless to say at this juncture that the
National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, is a federal health facility where both
Christians and Muslims have the right to work.
Medical Director Sir, kindly satisfy all righteousness on
these two cases. We want
Christian officials to stop using their religion to victimize Muslims. It is an
indirect way of seeking forceful conversion of Muslims to Christianity.
Religious crisis will become history if both the Christians
and the Muslims in this country allow peace to reign. This can only be possible
if Christians leave the Muslims alone and vice versa. Muslims should be allowed to be
Muslims while Christians should be allowed to practice their faith without let
or hindrance.
Please note that our organization does not issue threats,
neither do we engage in violence. But we are determined to explore all available
and legitimate channels of dialogue to protect Allah-given and fundamental
rights of Nigerian Muslims.
We are prepared to discuss this issue if you invite us to
dialogue. We can be reached on telephone numbers 08182119714 and 08098016678.
Our email is muslimrightsconcern@yahoo.co.uk. However, this will not be
necessary if the Muslim nurses can be left alone to continue using their hijab.
Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely Yours,
Professor Ishaq Akintola
Alhaji Shehu Tijani
DIRECTOR
SECRETARY
cc
1.
The Chairman, National Orthopaedic Hospital Management
Board
2. The Ameerah, Federation of Muslim Women
Associations of Nigeria (FOMWAN),
Lagos State Chapter
3. The Ameerah, Criterion,
Lagos State Chapter
4.
The Chairman, Nigerian Labour Congress, Lagos State Chapter.
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