MURIC demands enquiry on law school Hijab saga

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) yesterday called for immediate call to bar of AbdulSalaam Firdaus Amasa, a law graduate of University of Ilorin who was denied called to bar over her adornment of Hijab. Besides, the organization called for a judicial inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the molestation of Muslim students who were forced to […]

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) yesterday called for immediate call to bar of AbdulSalaam Firdaus Amasa, a law graduate of University of Ilorin who was denied called to bar over her adornment of Hijab.

Besides, the organization called for a judicial inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the molestation of Muslim students who were forced to remove their Hijab on that day.

MURIC made the call at a world press conference addressed in Lagos on Tuesday by its Director, Prof. Is-haq Akintola.

MURIC condemned the refusal of the Council of Legal Education / Law School to allow the student from being called to bar while calling for a review of the code of dressing in the Nigerian Law Schools as it affects the manifestation of religious beliefs.

“The Nigerian Law School’s action is deplorable, reprehensible and preposterous. The very school where human rights lawyers are trained to respect human dignity is not expected to be the very first institution to dehumanize Nigerian citizens. There is no hope for the rule of law in Nigeria if the Law School’s decision is allowed to stand”, Akintola said.

MURIC said the affected student “was not dancing to her whims and caprices by using the hijab but simply obeying her Creator”, saying the use of Hijab was ordained on Muslims in the scripture.

“The Law School’s ill-treatment of Muslims would not have been exposed if Firdaus Amasa had succumbed to intimidation like other Muslims had done in the past because it has now come to public knowledge that this has always been the practice in the Law School every year”, he said.

MURIC also called for an investigation by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) into allegations of religious stigimitization in the Nigerian Law School while advocating a general reform of the Nigerian Law School.