COURT GRANTS FEMALE MUSLIM STUDENTS RIGHT TO WEAR HIJAB IN OSUN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

This is according to Justice Jide Falola of the Osun state high court in a judgement he delivered on Friday in Osogbo.

The case was instituted in February, 2013 by the Osun state Muslim Community and Muslim Students Society of Nigeria.

The applicants had sought the relief of the court to compel the Osun state government to allow female Muslim students wear hijab in public primary and secondary schools.
The Osun state Christian Association of Nigeria also applied to be joined in the case as defendants arguing that Hijab should not be allowed in public schools.

In a 51-page judgement on Friday, justice Jide Falola of the Osun state high court ruled that the use of Hijab by female Muslims is their fundamental human right to freedom religion, conscience and thought and as such no female student must be molested or sent out of school for wearing it.
Justice Falola declared that since all missionary schools had been taken over by government in 1975, all students have equal rights to practice their religions.
He warned that such hijab must match the colour of their school uniforms