By Wale Odunsi

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has advised Nigerian Muslim students and their parents to avoid private universities owned by Christians.

The body said such schools should be shunned pending the time the National Universities Commission (NUC) “sanitise them”

The Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola alleged that Christian proprietors “are yet to purge themselves of tramadolised religiousity’.

The Islamic human rights organisation accused them of “deep-seated hatred for Muslims and their faith.”

Akintola alleged “forceful conversion of Muslim students”, compelling them to attend church service and disallowing hijab.

In a statement on Thursday, he said Muslims are not allowed to practice their faith in Christian universities nor form associations.

“They are not given any space where they can pray. Hijab is an anathema in such institutions.

“Muslim students are forced to attend Christian service in the chapel where attendance registers are marked and absentees are sanctioned,” he claimed.

MURIC further accused the schools of “the poorest human rights records”, and compared them to “torture chambers.”

The statement described the failure to provide a place for Muslims learners to pray as “religious intolerance”.

It urged prospective students and their parents to make proper investigations before applying for admission into any private university.

“Those found to be owned by Christians should be avoided at all cost because they are nothing but spiritual traps set for Muslims to lose their identities,” he said.