Polaris Bank LTD has allegedly cautioned its Muslim employees against attending Friday prayer.
The strong warning by the bank management was via an email sent by one Damilola I. Adebara to the Muslim employees on Tuesday, saying going to the mosque contradicts the policy of the financial institution.
The development, putting in mind that any citizen is entitled to a right to religion, does not sit well with many of the Muslim employees whose eyes gloated through the email in dismay.
One of the employees who spoke to The Daily Reality, an online newspaper through a phone call said the same issue happened just recently with one female employee who was warned against going for the prayer by her Christian supervisor.
The email that goes viral reads: “It has been observed that on Friday, you leave your work desks to attend Juma’at service bearing in mind the impact of your absence on workflow and productivity of Yes Center.
“Kindly note that there is no provision made anywhere in the bank policy for employees to attend any religious activity during work hours.
“Going forward such permissions would not be granted on the Yes Center platform and any infrastructure of this directive would be dealt with accordingly,” the bank instructed.
A legal practitioner in Kano, Barrister Abubakar Saleh, told The Daily Reality reporter that the bank’s directive is against the constitutional provision of the right to religion.
He said, “The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has entitled any citizen the right to religion. For that, it is wrong for the bank to rob the employees of their rights and freedom of religion.”
Also, Sheikh Abubakar Ayuba Tangimi, lambasted the bank’s directive, saying Jumu’ah prayer is obligatory to any male Muslim.
He quoted, “Ibn Qayyum in his book Zadul Ma’ad said Juma’at prayer is compulsory to any Muslim adult. He was of the opinion that if anyone misses a single Juma’a prayer has wronged his creator.”
Polaris Bank reacts
Reacting to the issue, Polaris Bank in a screenshot of a mail which also goes viral noted that it would continue to respect the fundamental rights and freedom of worship of every employee.
The information reads in part;
RESPECT FOR EMPLOYEE RIGHT TO WORSHIP
The attention of the Bank has been drawn to a shared screenshot of mail sent by a supervisor to staff in her department in respect of Friday prayers.
This is to clarify that Nigeria is a secular nation and our Bank is guided by this standard. Accordingly, there is no policy in the Bank that forbids staff from practicing the religion of their choice; hence the said staff had acted in ignorance and we have since addressed the issue internally.
We assure all staff, customers, and the public that we will continue to respect the fundamental rights and freedom of worship of every employee.
Signed
Management
(Culled from BizPoint/Daily Reality)
