A call has gone to the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) to take necessary steps to checkmate the oppression of Muslim students in Christian-owned private universities.
Muslim Rights Concern made the call on Tuesday in a statement signed by its Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola.
The statement alleged that Christian proprietors of private universities have consistently subjected Muslim students to forceful conversion via compulsory attendance of church services and denial of personal identity by disallowing the use of hijab.
Akintola said: “Private universities owned by Christians in the country have become torture chambers for Muslim students. Muslim students cannot form any association based on their faith in those schools. They have no space for their prayers. They are forced to attend the church on campus as attendance is marked by the authorities. Muslim students who fail to go to church are sanctioned. This smirks at religious apartheid. It is therefore unacceptable.
“It is noteworthy that such private universities do not bear Christian names. Therefore Muslim students have no foreknowledge that they are seeking admission into Christian-owned universities. They are deceived into applying and paying acceptance fees and the school fees properly without being told that the institutions are owned by Christians or that they would be run according to Christian teachings.
“It is after they have packed into the hostel and started attending classes that the school authorities start issuing odd rules. We see this as unfair, deceitful, fraudulent and non-transparent.
“MURIC calls on the National Universities Commission (NUC) to intervene in this issue. Private universities should be true to the conditions of their approval by the Federal Government and their registration by the NUC. They should not be allowed to change the goalpost after the game has started.
