DDHK News, Nigeria - Nigerian Muslims protested against a hospital in Lagos, Nigeria's capital, that fired two Muslim female nurses wearing headscarves.
The two Muslimah nurses were fired for refusing to remove their headscarves. The hospital told them to choose between their jobs and their Islamic headscarves.
"At the start of the one month orientation, I was told to take off my head scarf," Fasilat Olayinka Lawal, one of two nurses dismissed from the National Orthopedic Hospital Igbobi Lagos (NOHIL), told Onislam.net.
"I asked permission from the Head of the Nursing Department, so I was allowed to wear a veil during orientation."
However, Lawal and his friend who is also wearing a headscarf, Seminar Sanusi, conducted a medical examination to join NOHIL staff. Both were asked to remove the hijab.
The disciplinary committee also asked them to remove their headscarves. "We immediately sought legal advice because we were determined not to remove our headscarves," said Lawal.
Nigeria's leading Islamic organization MPAC condemned the hospital's decision and expressed deep concern over increasing discrimination.
Muslim leaders say the ban on the headscarf violates the religious rights enshrined in the Constitution. (mel / onislam.net / localhost / project / personal / ddhongkong.org / ddhongkong.org). *
