MURIC supports CAN’s decision on expelled Corps members
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), an Islamic human rights organization has declared its support for the position held by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on the expulsion of two female Christian youth corpers from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) camp in Ebonyi State.
The director of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola disclosed this on behalf of the organization to newsmen in a statement on Tuesday.
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According to Akintola, “Those two Christian girls have the right to satisfy their conscience regarding what to wear and what not to wear in public. There is freedom of religion in the Nigerian Constitution and NYSC is flagrantly violating Section 38 (i) and (ii) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. NYSC is behaving like the notorious Gestapo. It is time to liberalise.
“It is not just a religious matter. Morality is involved here. NYSC seeks to destroy our norms and values. Our sons and daughters who were trained in good Christian and Muslim homes are stripped nude when they go for NYSC. This is unacceptable. Something must be done urgently if this is the mission of NYSC.
“It is absolutely wrong to force our daughters to appear in short knickers in public. It is against strict Christian and Islamic teachings. It is also an assault on the dignity of their human persons. They feel humiliated. It is a big shame. NYSC is flagrantly infringing the Nigerian constitution.” He said
In addition, Akintola revealed that, “Right to the dignity of the human person is entrenched in Section 34 (b) & (c) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended (2011) which says, ‘Every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person, and accordingly…(b) no person shall be held in slavery or servitude and (c) no person shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labour.
“The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Article 4, Clause 1 & 2 also says, ‘Human beings are inviolable. Every human being shall be entitled to respect for his life and the integrity of his person.’ We must therefore ask why NYSC authorities are turning their facilities to slave camps.
“But it was never meant to be like this. NYSC was introduced to instill patriotism and discipline in Nigerian youth. But what kind of discipline can NYSC instill in corpers if the female members are instructed to wear atrociously short knickers that expose sensitive parts of their anatomy to prying eyes? This is a direct way of encouraging immorality and corruption,” he said
“We have it on good authority that NYSC uniforms were not sexually inducing ab initio. Pictures of youth corpers in the 70s show female members in long skirts that reached below the knees. Parents were proud of this but we are miffed by what we have today. So what has happened between then and now? Why must NYSC display our daughters in the public like prostitutes?”
Akintola, hence urged the director of NYSC look into the issue and recall the two expelled girls.
In the director’s words, “To cap the edifice, we call on the new director general of the NYSC to intervene in the issue of the two Christian girls expelled in Ebonyi. Those two girls should be recalled. We also advise the new NYSC leadership to set the machinery in motion for a review of the NYSC dress code in line with the issues raised by religious groups.”
Recall that the two corpers, Okafor Love Obianuju and Odji Oritsetsolaye were expelled from the 2019 Batch C Stream 1 in Ebonyi camp on Saturday, 9th November, 2019 for refusing to wear short knickers and trousers as instructed by NYSC officials. The umbrella Christian association, CAN, immediately condemned the expulsion of the corpers. CAN called on NYSC to be more tolerant.
