On the panel were Justice Emmanuel Agim Justice Mohammed Garba, Justice Uwani Aji, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, Justice John Inyang Okoro, and Justice Tijjani Abubakar. Six ruled against one in favour of the usage of Hijab in the State.
Recall that Lagos State Government in February 2017 presented the case before the Supreme Court where the latter was asked to revoke the July 21, 2016 judgment of the Court of Appeal which reinstated the use of hijab by Muslim pupils in Lagos public primary and secondary schools after the execution of the judgement by the state government at the Lagos Division of Court of Appeal failed.
The case, CA/L/135/15, is between the Lagos State Government, Miss Asiyat AbdulKareem represented her father, Miss Moriam Oyeniyi and the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria.
A five-man special appellate court panel, presided by Justice A.B. Gumel, had on July 21, 2016, overruled the October 17, 2014 judgment of Justice Modupe Onyeabo of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja and banned the use of hijab in public primary and secondary schools in Lagos State.
Justice Onyeabo however in his verdict stated that the ban on hijab was discriminatory against Muslim pupils in the state.
Justice Gumel also upholds that wearing the hijab was an Islamic act of worship which is required of Muslims. He also said the use of hijab by Muslim pupils is not capable of causing disunity, distraction or discrimination against students of other faiths as declared by the lower court judge.
In his response to the judgement, the Amir (President) of MSSN in Lagos State, Miftahudeen Thanni, stated that based on the judgement, students in public primary and secondary schools in Lagos State can now wear hijab to school with no harassment.
He went on to warn teachers and government officials against harassment of female Muslim students while equally urging the Supreme Court judgement to put a stop to the “undue” punishment of students who would love to wear hijab.
The panel voiced Muslim students’ discontentment with the ban of hijab saying it’s a violation on their rights to freedom of thought,religion, dignity of human persons, conscience, and freedom from discrimination guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution.
Mr Thanni in his words said, ” The judgement simply means that though hijab is not mandatory in Lagos schools, Muslim students who wish to wear it are free to do so and legally allowed.
We are a law-abiding organisation and we will continue to uphold the law of the land. We applaud the judgement. The position of the law is very clear on the subject matter. This matter once more assures us that all hope is not lost on having a modest society.
The government should not be waging war against youths who chose to cover their nakedness while encouraging those who walk naked and engage in illicit acts in public.
It gladdens to see that the injunction which the LASG is using as a basis to deny the rights of Muslim students has been decided by the apex court.
We hereby urge all stakeholders to be law-abiding for a peaceful implementation of the judgement. There should be no violation of human rights against our students while we expect an immediate implementation of the judgement in all schools across the state. We urge the government not to delay implementation.”
Thanni in his congratulatory message to Muslims said, “We congratulate the entire Muslim Ummah (community) and urge our Muslim students to uphold decency and cleanliness which are the hallmark of Islam while exercising their rights. We also pray to Allah to forgive the shortcomings of the late Alhaji Adetola Kassim (SAN) who started this case without collecting a dime from us.”
