JAMB 2020 Ordeal: How Muslim students were harassed, forced to remove Hijabs at CBT Centres

Scores of Muslim students who sat for the March/April 2020 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) were allegedly harassed and forced to remove their Hijabs at different CBT centres across the country, Muslim News findings have revealed. 

The examination administered by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for prospective undergraduates in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions was marred by several irregularities and gross human rights abuse – especially assaults on Muslim students who were forced by the officials to remove their Hijab at some CBT centres across the country.

Muslim News learnt that the CBT Centre at Babcock university, Ilishan, Ogun state ensured that all the students in hijab removed their hijabs before they were permitted to enter the examination hall to write their UTME examinations

Video evidence published by Hijab Rights Advocacy Initiative (HRAI) monitoring team showed different hijabs confiscated from candidates at the center before allowing them to write the UTME exams.

There were similar ugly scenarios in several centres in Lagos including Duntro High School, Surulere; Knowledge Ware Technology, Lawanson, Surulere; Eko College of Management and Technology, Egbe among others.

Muslim students were said to have reluctantly removed their hijabs at Plateau State University Exam Centre, Barkin Ladi, Plateau before they were allowed to write their examinations.

The HRAI legal team lead, Barrister Mariam Odunayo Nurudeen-Arole described the discriminatory act as criminal, saying it was a violation of the Muslim girls’ fundamental rights as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution.

According to her, “It is unfortunate and condemnable that candidates in hijab are being discriminated against and asked to take off their hijab by overzealous Staff of some CBT centres.

“It has been established that wearing the Hijab to register, biometrics capture and sitting for the examination is allowed in both UTME and WAEC examinati“We hereby call out the authorities in these CBT centres where the Muslims ladies were denied entry into the examination centre or forced to bare their heads before they could write their examinations,” she added.

The group, which has been at the forefront  of Hijab advocacy in Nigeria expressed its readiness to use all legal means within its reach to enforce their rights.

“While we call for calm, it is pertinent to say that discrimination is criminal and we shall use all legal means within our reach to enforce our rights and privileges as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution” she added.

Nigerians react 

The Wali (leader) of The Muslim Congress (TMC) in Ogun State, Dr Ibrahim Ogunkoya condemned the incessant violation of Muslim students’ rights, urging that a protest letter should be sent to the office the Attorney General of the Federation and JAMB, a board headed by Prof Ishaq  Oloyede, who doubles as the Secretary General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA).

AbdurRahman Yunus said the case shouldn’t be taken lightly, adding that, “Legal action must be taken against the overzealous staff and until one or more of them are punished before they desist from this act of oppression and discrimination”.

Jubril Akinwande, in his own reaction described the incident as unfortunate, noting that, “At this age and time in a place like the southwest, we are still intolerant of people of different faith. Most unfortunate and backward. These enemies of progress need to be fished out and such CBT Centres banned.”

JAMB clarification 

The action of the overzealous invigilators, Muslim News reliably gathered contradicted the directives of the board, which affirmed that its rule does not prevent female candidates from wearing hijab or other dresses that are in line with their religious beliefs.

In a tweet published on its verified Twitter handle, the board, in her response to previous molestation against Muslim students in Hijab, said;

“The attention of the Board was drawn to a story making the rounds on social media about an incident concerning a candidate that was allegedly asked to remove her hijab before entering the examination hall.

“The Board would like to state clearly that our rule does not prevent female candidates from wearing hijab or other dresses that define their faith.

“We would continue to ensure that people exercise their freedom of religion even with the conduct of our examination so far it doesn’t compromise the sanctity of our examination.

“However, at every center, 2 security operatives (one male and one female) are on ground to screen candidates with dignity and respect. All officials were duly briefed on how to conduct (their assignments).

“This incident must have been the result of an overzealous security agent (if at all it happened) and not aimed at disrespecting the candidate’s religion.”

The legality of hijabs on uniforms

Muslim News can authoritatively confirm that Muslim students have the right to wear hijabs on uniforms at private and government schools in Nigeria.

This was based on the Appeal Court judgement of Thursday, July 21, 2016 where the five-man panel led by Justice A.B Gumel unanimously declared that the ban of hijab in Lagos state (and by extension, other parts of the country) violated the fundamental human rights of Muslim students.

In the judgement, a certified true copy of which was obtained by Muslim News, the Honorable Justices declared the ban of hijab and molestation of hijab wearing Muslim ladies, as “wrongful and unconstitutional”.

The appellate court further held that since the use of the hijab by Muslim students doesn’t violate any known law and does not infringe on the rights of other members of the society, the government or individuals cannot ban or restrict the use of the Muslim headscarves.

In his lead judgement, Justice Gumel also held that the use of the hijab is an Islamic injunction and also an act of worship, adding that, it will constitute a violation of the Muslim students rights who in Lagos state had approached the court to stop the assault on their members across the state over the hijab. 

Harassment of Muslim students rate is 41.3% – Study

Despite numerous court injunctions including the Appeal Court judgement, studies have shown that about 41.3% cases of harassment and discrimination of Muslim women using hijabs occurred in Nigeria schools, with authorities doing nothing to stop it.

The study also revealed that discrimination against Muslim ladies at workplace, neighborhood and government parastatals and agencies followed closely with about 30%, 22.2% and 22.2% respectively.

The survey carried out by the Muslim Public Affairs Centre (MPAC) Nigeria, titled ‘Univeiling Discrimination’ was taken to evaluate the experiences of Muslim women wearing the hijab in Nigeria.

The Director of the centre, Mal. Kamor Disu said the finding also serves as a research tool to evaluate discrimination against women who wear the hijab and the difficulties they face in public life.

The discrimination according to the survey are mostly dominant in the Southern part of the country, as the Northern region recorded little of such cases.  

The survey which had not less than 675 respondents across the country had a whopping 87.6% admitting to being victims of discrimination of which 85.9% fall under the age of 40.

Most discrimination cases are not reported as only a few get help.

In the case of bully,  marginalisation, 87.3% chose not to report to any organisation or government agencies with just 12.7% registering their grievances.

This accordingly, could be due to the failure to take action on a direct or indirect form of discrimination which contribute to the continuous victimisation or under-reporting of the problem.

Of the few who report the cases, 65.3% got no help after reporting to relevant authorities.

Other places where the discrimination are dominant include the family setting with 20.7% of such cases, 15.9% at job recruitment/interview exercises, 12.3% at events while other places, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and from friends got 8.0%, 1.8% and 1.0% respectively.

Effect of Hijab discrimination against Muslim women – Mal. Disu  

MPAC Nigeria, in its submission, noted that the alarming cases would deter the hijab wearing Muslim women in engaging in civic life and properly function in the society due to the deep-seated discrimination against their religious belief or expression of such belief.

It further sued that Muslim women, like all people in the country, should be free to express their religious beliefs free from discrimination and prejudice and it should be a collective responsibility to ensure a safe space for people to practice their faith or express it.

According to Mal. Disu, “The phenomenon of discrimination sometimes hinders the ability of the victims to express themselves and seek help. It is also important for Muslim women to take leadership roles and champion causes to eradicate discrimination in the society at large.

“It is essential, particularly for Muslim advocacy groups and Muslim parents, to take a critical look at creative methods to further empower and encourage female Muslims to come out and speak out against discrimination, report and take intelligent actions against any form of discrimination they face due to their religious beliefs or expression of such beliefs.

“Muslim organisations need to build their internal institutions to (be able to) detect and dismantle the ideology of extremism anywhere in the society and competently deal with the problem of hate and discrimination.

“Further, they need to build and nurture strong alliances against the imminent danger of unrelenting attacks on the hijab as well as the agenda-driven accusation of Islamisation. These alliances should also include non-Muslim allies, individual or institutions, who believe in equality, inclusiveness and fairness.”

The study stated, “There should be strong legislation to prohibit and criminalise discrimination on the basis of religion, including hate speech, hate preaching and hate crimes.

“It also noted that it is important for media outlets to give voice to Muslim women and a space to explain their choices and positive feelings on wearing the hijab and Muslim leaders (religious and political) as well as interfaith leaders must do more to speak forcefully against discrimination (societal and institutional) faced by Muslim women in hijab as silence may be deemed to be passive acceptance, endorsement or act as a powerful disincentive for victims to step forward.”

By: Rasheed Abubakar, Abdul Waheed Shotonwa and Abdulganiy Abdullah 

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