Female Muslim students in Lagos have requested the Court of Appeal to intervene in the decision of a Lagos State High Court, that the use of hijab in schools be banned. It has requested the court to reverse the decision.
DAILY POST recalls that Justice G.M. Onyeabo had in 2014 dismissed a suit filed by two female Muslim students of Atunrashe Junior High School, Surelere, Asiyat Abdulkareem and Maryam Oyeniyi, who vehemently opposed the ban on hijab.
The students who sued for themselves and on behalf of others under the umbrella of the Registered Trustees of Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria, said the decision by their Vice Principal was illegal and against their freedom.
But the presiding Judge, Onyeabo dismissed the suit, and argued that the ban did not discriminate against the student and did not in any way breach any section of the 1999 Constitution as argued by Chief Gani Adetola-Kazeem, who represented the students.
According to the judge, “The values of plurality and the respect for the rights of others who have subscribed to a non-faith based educational system cannot be breached,” the judge had said.
She concluded that it was the responsibility of the government to issue dress code for the students since state schools were funded by the government.
The aggrieved students, have, however, through their legal team, comprising five Senior Advocates of Nigeria and other lawyers, approached the Court of Appeal, asking it to overrule the decision of the High Court.
They requested the appeal court to conclude whether the trial judge acted within the ambit of the law, when she ruled that Section 10 of the 1999 Constitution makes Nigeria a secular state, when the defendants did not canvass such an argument.
They equally requested the appellate court to say if the trial judge was right by stating that the use of hijab would lead to disunity, distraction and discrimination against students of other faiths.
They have asked the Appeal Court to decide whether it was right for the trial judge to believe that there was a state policy banning the use of hijab in Lagos orally without any documented evidence .
They asked the court to rule that the respondents breached their constitutionally given rights under sections 38 and 42 of the 1999 Constitution, having been stopped from wearing hijab in line with their belief system.
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