The Muslim Rights Concerned, MURIC, has welcomed the landmark judgment by the Federal High Court in Abuja, declaring the National Youth Service Corps’ (NYSC) refusal to permit female corps members to wear skirts for religious reasons as unconstitutional.
The suits, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/989/2020 and FHC/ABJ/CS/988/2020, were filed by Ogunjobi Blessing and Ayuba Vivian against the NYSC.
In a statement issued on Thursday by W. O. Lawal, chairman, and Malam Ibrahim Agunbiade, Secretary, of the Oyo State chapter, MURIC said it viewed the judgment as a significant victory for religious freedom and accommodation, particularly for female Muslim and Christianity corps members who wished to wear the hijab or other religious attire as demanded by their faith.
In light of the judgment, MURIC said its Oyo State chapter called on Christians to reconsider their opposition to Muslim women wearing hijab in public spaces.
It said given the court’s recognition of the importance of accommodating different religious practices, MURIC said it believed that Christians should no longer oppose Muslims on the issue of hijab.
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“It should be noted that the two female corpers who took the NYSC to court are Christians (Blessing and Vivian). They found the NYSC trousers unacceptable to their faith and took NYSC to court.
“MURIC’s stance is that promoting Islamic values and practices is essential in preserving the religious identity of Muslims in a pluralistic society,” the group said.
The organisation advocated for the rights of Muslim women to wear the hijab or other religious attires, free from discrimination and marginalization.
It said by supporting the judgment, it aimed to promote greater religious freedom, diversity, and inclusion in society and to ensure that Muslims were treated with dignity and respect in accordance with the principles of justice and equality.
