Ban on Hijab in Lagos: Court fixes September 26 for judgment

Months after the use of Hijab by female students was
banned in all public primary and secondary schools in
Lagos State, a Lagos High Court in Ikeja has fixed
September 26 to deliver judgment in a suit filed by the
Muslim Student Association of Nigeria against the Lagos
State Government.

Counsel to the students, Mr Gani Adetola-Kaseem in his
arguments in court yesterday Friday July 4th maintained
that the essence of wearing Hijab by Muslim females is to
prevent them from tempting people of the opposite sex or
being tempted by them and also to protect their chastity.

The lawyer also insisted that it is mandatory for all Muslims
who have attained puberty to participate fully in the
practice of Islam, including Islamic dressing mode, worship
and fasting.

He submitted that from the Islamic point of view,
womanhood is determined not by biological age or
marriage but by the time a person has attained the age of
puberty. This age he says varies between individual. Some
females attain puberty as early as the age of nine years
while others attain puberty at age 13 or more.

The lawyer therefore urged the court to grant the
application because the position of the Lagos State
Government violates the religious rights of the applicants
and it is the duty of the court to protect them.

In his response, the counsel to the State Government, Mr
Lawal Pedro, argued that the wearing of uniforms in public
primary and secondary schools is for identification of
students from different schools in Lagos and also to
encourage a sense of unity, discipline, organisation and
orderliness amongst the schools.

He also submitted that the clamour and demand for the
compulsory use of Hijab on top of the school uniform by
Muslim girl students in Lagos is a recent development.

Two Muslim students, of Atunrashe Junior High School,
Surulere, Lagos State, Miss Asiyat Abdulkareem and Miss
Maryam Oyeniyi, had filed the suit through their fathers –
Alhaji Owolabi Abdulkareem and Mr. Suleiman Oyeniyi.
In the suit, they claimed that the restriction of the use of
the Hijab, violates their fundamental human rights.
They also argued that banning female students from using
Hijab on or outside the premises of any educational
institution in Lagos State "is wrongful and
unconstitutional".

The defendants in the suit are the Lagos State Attorney-
General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye; the
Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye;
and the Commissioner for Home Affairs and Culture, Mr.

Oyinlomo Danmole.
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