The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has rejected the ban on veil (niqab) by the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State.
MURIC Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, in a statement Monday, asked FUNAAB to withdraw the ban within seven days, saying otherwise, Muslim students in the institution would embark on peaceful demonstration from December 6.
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“FUNAAB is advised not to test our will or that of the Muslim students,” he warned.
He recalled the university on November 26, 2021 confirmed the ban when a female Muslim alumnus was forced to remove her veil by the school security men before she was allowed to enter the university.
Akintola said no academic institution, public place authority or employer of labour has the right to ban niqab because the freedom to ‘manifest’ religious belief is enshrined in the Constitution of Nigeria.
He said FUNAAB authorities had no respect for the religious feelings of Muslims and that this must stop.
He berated the university on the bill board on “indecent dressing erected as illogical, irritating and ridiculous, with the university placing the picture of a Muslim woman in niqab among those of female students in hot pants, body-hogs, male sagging trousers, crazy jeans among others.
“We strongly condemn this act of provocation and we demand that the Muslim woman’s picture be removed from the billboard without delay,” he said.