Many Nigerian Muslims have faulted the Kwara chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria’s claim that the use of Hijab will expose their children to terrorist attacks, saying that failure to abide by the court injunction and government’s directive is an act of lawlessness in the State of Harmony.
They also argued that the assaults and molestation of their children over the use of Hijab on school uniforms, which has the backing of the law, has exposed Muslim female students to coordinated attacks from overzealous Christian extremists.
The parents who spoke with Muslim News also stated that the affected ‘grant-aided schools’ are publicly owned and were taken over from Christian former owners alongside other Islamic school owners as well, since 1976
Kazeem Saheed said, “Christians should stop this overt christianization and hypocrisy. Hijab is different from terrorist attack. Hijab is cloth and terrorist attack is evil. Mary the mother of Jesus Christ used the hijab (head cover) so, stop this nonsense. Stop victimizing female Muslims, please. They have a right to freedom of worship.”
According to Bashir Shuaibu, extremists are in every religion, if Christian girls are exposed to Muslim terrorists because of not wearing the Hijab, the Muslim girls will also be exposed to Christian terrorists by wearing the Hijab.
Shuaibu noted that the demand by CAN in a Muslim majority state like Kwara, is against the law of natural justice, adding that, as Muslims have no right constitutionally to force Christian children to wear the Hijab, they don’t have the right either to deny Muslim children the right to use the Hijab.
“You can’t dictate for the families whose children are the majority in the so-called grant-aided schools. Attempt to do that so is an act of lawlessness,” he added.
University of Ilorin Don, Oba Abdulkadir La’aro said what the Christian body and some government officials referred to as ‘grant-aided schools’ have ceased to exist in Kwara State.
According to him, “Some (people) have erroneously referred to these schools as grant-aided schools. Thus, unwittingly giving the impression of co-ownership of the schools between the state government and the former missionary owners. Those categories of schools have ceased to exist in the state.
“No grant-aided schools in Kwara State. It is regrettable that some releases and comments by some state officers are contributions to this confusion,” he added.
