Why we sacked nurse over hijab –ABUTH boss
By Segun Olatunji, Kaduna
Published: Monday, 13 Apr 2009
The authorities of the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Kaduna State, said on Sunday that they sacked a nurse, Safiya Ahmed, because she violated the hospital‘s dress code.

According to ABUTH, Ahmed consistently wore a different and unapproved hijab (Muslim dress for women) while on duty.

It said that Ahmed‘s type of hijab sharply contradicted the dressing code prescribed by the nursing profession for members at work.

The hospital said that its decision to terminate the appointment of the nurse over alleged improper mode of dressing followed due process and had nothing to do with her religion as being alleged by some religious groups.

The Chief Medical Director, ABUTH, Prof. Abdul Rafindadi, said in a four-page statement, made available to newsmen in Kaduna, that the hospital recently offered appointment to 180 staff nurses, including Ahmed, who assumed duty on January 2, 2009, after signing an undertaking to abide by the hospital’s rules and regulations.

The nursing profession, Rafindadi said, prescribed dressing code for its members, which he said, included the wearing of “Hijab to the shoulder length” for Muslim nurses and being the rule even before Ahmed’s appointment.

Rafindadi said, “Ahmed, however, decided to wear a different and unapproved hijab. Her attention was drawn to this improper mode of dressing on several occasions by her supervisors, superiors and other Muslim interest groups.

“Indeed, her husband, too, was equally contacted on several occasions on this same issue. But all efforts to make them reason proved abortive.

“The management went extra length to write her a letter advising her to comply in her own interest, which she totally disregarded. She was then issued with a query, which she failed to respond to. In light of the above, it became very clear that Ahmed was no longer interested in her job.”

The ABUTH boss also expressed dismay that Ahmed’s husband, who was contacted a number of times on the issue, allegedly decided to use his membership of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria to incite other Muslim groups into causing religious unrest in the community.

The development, he said, made the Emir of Zazzau, Dr. Shehu Idris, to summon a meeting of stakeholders in his palace where the problem was identified, while community leaders contacted the pro-Ahmed group and conveyed the decision of the Emirate, warning them to desist from other acts of incitement and undue interference in the internal affairs of ABUTH
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