Hijab: Muslim students want jail term for erring teachers

The Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN), Lagos State area unit, has advocated sack and imprisonment of school principals harassing Muslim women over hijab. The group said it has recorded pockets of harassment of Muslims female students despite the Supreme Court’s judgement and the circular issued by Lagos State government, approving the use of hijab […]

The Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN), Lagos State area unit, has advocated sack and imprisonment of school principals harassing Muslim women over hijab.

The group said it has recorded pockets of harassment of Muslims female students despite the Supreme Court’s judgement and the circular issued by Lagos State government, approving the use of hijab in public schools.

The MSSN, however, encouraged its female members to be courageous to wear the hijab to schools despite the harassment.

The Amirah (female president) of MSSN in Lagos, Azeezah Gidigbih, in a statement to commemorate the 2023 World Hijab Day, urged the state government to sack and prosecute any defaulting teacher or principal.

The World Hijab Day is commemorated globally every February 1.

She said, “In June 2022, the Supreme Court approved for students to use the hijab in all schools. This move has, however, not deterred some overzealous school administrators who still throw caution to the wind and harass students without regard for the constitution and directives from their employers.

“We recommend that they should be demoted, sacked, prosecuted and jailed instead of just being transferred as witnessed in recent cases. These disobedient elements don’t deserve to be in our fast-growing educational system in Lagos State.”

She also hailed the recent appointment of Dr Shareefah Adejoke Yusuf, a hijab-wearing Muslim woman, as the Tutor-General/Permanent Secretary, Education District VI by the Lagos State government.

The Kwara state Amiral of the Federation of Muslim Women’s Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN), Hajia Nimat Labaika, urged the state government to issue a circular to all public schools on the use of hijab.

“For now, we have relative peace as our girls can now wear hijab in schools. “The Supreme Court’s judgement is a relief but we want a pronouncement from the state government as was done in Lagos state because of future occurrence,” she told Daily Trust in an interview last night.

Also, the Coalition of Nigerian Muslim Women Associations has called for decisive actions to guarantee the rights of Muslim women to adorn hijab in all education sectors across the country.

The coalition made the call on Wednesday in Abuja at a press briefing on the 10th annual World Hijab Day.

The National President, Sisters of Jannah (SOJ), Hajia Ramatu Aliyu, addressed the press conference on behalf of the coalition.

Also, the Association of Model Islamic Schools (AMIS) in a statement by its FCT chairperson, Hajia Salawu Simbiat, urged the government and the people to uphold the right of female Muslims to adorn the hijab.

“It is saddening that after the decade-long sensitisation through the World Hijab Day initiative and other platforms across the globe, the painstakingly clear provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended on freedom of religion, conscience and thought, and the numerous decided cases on this subject, Muslim women and girls continue to go through continuous harassment and discrimination in schools, workplaces, capturing/visa application centres and other public places for the singular act of donning the hijab,” Hajia Aliyu said.

By Abdullateef Aliyu (Lagos),  Mumini Abdulkareem (Ilorin) & Abbas Jimoh (Abuja)