By Ahmad Deedat Zakari
Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, a Muslim rights organization, has asked Polaris Bank to apologize to Muslims or face a boycott.
MURIC, in a statement released on Friday signed by its Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, issued an ultimatum demanding an unreserved apology to Muslims from the management of Polaris Bank.
The rights group said the refusal of the bank to tender an apology within seven days would make Muslim customers of the bank boycott the bank’s financial services.
Recall that The Daily Reality reported that in a leaked email to the bank’s members of staff, a supervisor at the bank, Damilola Adebara, had ordered the workers not to leave their duty post to attend Jumu’ah prayers on Friday.
Although the management had issued a statement stating that the supervisor acted in ignorance, MURIC is convinced and argued that it was a deliberate attempt to make the policies of the bank unfavourable to the Muslim staffers in the bank.
Part of MURIC statement reads: “Damilola Adebara’s mail is a flagrant contravention of Section 38 (i)&ii) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which says, ‘Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance. The leaked mail was greeted with outrage, bewilderment and nausea among Nigerian Muslims. Unfortunately, the bank’s response to the concern of Muslims was not good enough. It was mild, vague, escapist and deceitful. Polaris Bank had said, ‘The said staff had acted in ignorance, and we have since addressed the issue internally.”
MURIC also said an unpretentious apology to Muslims and the suspension of the erring supervisor is the only thing that can remedy the situation and assuage the pains and trauma the leaked email caused Muslims.
“That apology should be tendered within seven days from today, Friday, 14th October 2022, failing which Muslim customers may start boycotting the bank. Nigerian Muslims deserve dignified treatment as homo sapiens compos mentis.
Secondly, the first offender, Damilola Adebara, must go on a few days’ suspension. There must be consequences for unprofessional behaviour. On her return from suspension, she must withdraw the memo sent to all Muslim staff,” the statement adds.