Hijab-wearing female Muslim students of the International School, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, were recently locked out of school for several days because the authorities refused to allow them into the school compound unless they removed their hijabs.
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An Islamic human rights organisation, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has slammed the authorities of the school for what it called stereotyping, hate-induced policy and islamophobia.
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‎This was contained in a statement issued ‎by the Executive Director of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Monday, 5th October, 2026.
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‎It reads: ‎"Hijab-wearing female Muslim students of the International School, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, were recently locked out of school for weeks because the authorities refused to allow them into the school compound unless they removed their hijabs.
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‎"But the students were forced to surrender last week when the school authorities allegedly decided that they have to wait until December 2026 when the university council will deliberate on the matter at its next meeting. Following this alleged position, all the students who used hijab removed it and returned to the school bare-headed.
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‎"This is a sad development. MURIC condemns the school's arm-twisting tactics. It is discriminatory, deplorable and tyrannical. It also constitutes a gross violation of Allah-given fundamental human rights of the children.
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‎"Conscienceless power has subjugated powerless conscience. Besides, the action taken against the hijab-wearing students represents premeditated stereotyping. It is a hate-induced policy which falls within the category of aggravated islamophobia.
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‎"Here are the five evils which one-time British prime minister, Chamberlain, spoke about: brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution.
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‎"Hijab, an ordinary piece of head scarf which is commonly used in schools in London, Paris, New York, etc has become a controversial subject on a Nigerian University campus. How could our standard fall so low? How could eligibility for school attendance shift from academic performance to an ordinary piece of cloth? Shoud hijab really be an issue? It is petty, mean, laughable.
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‎"We are aware that some Muslim staff of the university are unhappy about this development but they have decided to remain silent in the interest of campus harmony.
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‎"But this is not about the Muslim staff in OAU alone or about the children's parents alone. Whoever persecutes a single Muslim has persecuted all Muslims of the world and there are over one billion of them. The Prophet (SAW) said the Muslim Ummah is a single body and if one part of the body is hurt the whole body feels the pain. The parents are complaining and Muslims around the country are already aware of what is happening.
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‎"The question MURIC is asking is why must the rights of Muslim children be sacrificed for this? What right has any school to strip Muslim girls naked?
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‎"Yes, that is the way Muslims see such action. Whoever removes the hijab from the head of a Muslim female, no matter the age, has stripped her naked. The parents are writhing in agony and the general fear is that the Muslim children may even convert from Islam out of frustration if they see that nobody is ready to protect them so long as they remain Muslims.
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‎"What the OAU and its secondary school authorities are doing is stemming the growth of Islam among Muslim children. Those in the secondary school are still in their impressionable years and they may never use hijab again once they are not allowed to use it at this age. We understand the game very well.
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‎"The school authorities are known to be predominantly Christians. By the actions taken by them so far, are they not unduely using their positions to pressurize Muslim children for conversion to Christianity? We demand an answer to this question from both OAU and its international school authorities.
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‎"MURIC charges the authorities of OAU and the International School to respect the laws of the land regarding freedom of religion. One faith should not be used to oppress another.
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‎"It is illegal, illegitimate, unlawful and unconstitutional to disallow Muslim students from enjoying religious freedom which the Constitution guarantees them in Section 38(i)&(ii).
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‎" The school authorities are provoking the Muslim population by persecuting Muslim students under them. This is contrary to the spirit of peaceful coexistence being promoted by both Osun State and the Federal Government. It also stands in contradistinction to the principles of interfaith. It is a threat to both campus and communal peace. Town and gown may not be able to see eye to eye on this.
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‎“The argument that the use of hijab violates the school’s rules does not hold any water. The Nigerian Constitution grants religious freedom, including freedom to use hijab.
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‎"We remind OAU and its international school authorities that the Nigerian Constitution is the font et origo. It is the grundnorm and any rule, regulation or law of any local or state government, agency or institution that contravenes any clause therein is null, void and ultra vires.
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‎"To that extent, therefore, no school within the country by whatever nomenclature it is called has the power to declare the hijab illegal, talk less of locking students out of the school because they wear an ordinary scarf.
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‎"We are bemused that a citadel of learning that should support girl-child education now champions the locking out of underaged girls from school at a time when Nigeria is fighting tooth and nail to reduce its number of out of school children which the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) puts at 18.3 million as at 2025.
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‎"Before we draw the curtain, we demand that the ban on hijab in the International School, Obafemi Awolowo University be lifted unconditionally and with immediate effect. Only thus can OAU retain the respect and the good name it has earned over the years as a world class tertiary institution."

ASA