MURIC HAILS COURT RULING ON SKIRTS FOR FEMALE CORPERS

31^st July, 2025

PRESS RELEASE:

MURIC HAILS COURT RULING ON SKIRTS FOR FEMALE CORPERS

The Muslim Rights Concerned (MURIC) has welcomed the landmark judgment by the Federal High Court in Abuja, which declared 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 (https://punchng.com/court-orders-nysc-to-allow-skirts-for-female-corps-members/).

MURIC views this judgment as a significant victory for religious freedom and accommodation, particularly for female Muslim and Christianity corpers who wish to wear the hijab or other religious attire as demanded by their faith.

In light of this judgment, MURIC Oyo State Chapter calls on Christians to reconsider their opposition to Muslim women wearing the hijab in public spaces. Given the court’s recognition of the importance of accommodating different religious practices, MURIC believes that Christians should no longer oppose Muslims on the issue of hijab. 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 organization advocates for the rights of Muslim women to wear the hijab or other religious attires, free from discrimination and marginalization.

By supporting this judgment, MURIC aims to promote greater religious freedom, diversity, and inclusion in society and to ensure that Muslims are treated with dignity and respect in accordance with the principles of justice and equality.

Barrister W. O. Lawal,

Chairman,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC),

Oyo State Chapter.

Amb. Malam Ibrahim Agunbiade,

Secretary,

Muslim Rights Concern

(MURIC),

Oyo State Chapter