* Supreme Court’s hijab judgment cannot be extended to private schools – judge
* ‘We’ll meet at the apex court,’ Balogun vows after expressing disappointment
By Muslim News Nigeria
The International School University of Ibadan Muslim Parents Forum has declared that its campaign for the right of female Muslim students to wear the hijab is far from over following the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Ibadan overturning the earlier High Court decision delivered in favour of the students.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan, in a split judgment of two Justices to one, overturned the judgment of the Oyo State High Court which had permitted female Muslim students of the International School University of Ibadan to wear the hijab with their school uniforms.
The judgment was delivered on Friday in an appeal filed by the management of the International School University of Ibadan against the High Court decision of May 22, 2024.
Reacting to the verdict, the Chairman of the International School University of Ibadan Muslim Parents Forum, Alhaji Abdur Rahman Balogun, said although the forum was disappointed by the outcome, it remained resolute in pursuing the matter to the Supreme Court, insisting that the case is about protecting the constitutional right of Muslim students to practise their religion.
Balogun described the judgment as shocking and disappointing but appealed to Muslim parents, students and supporters to remain calm and law abiding.
“We lost the appeal but the struggle continues,” he declared in a statement issued shortly after the judgment.
He assured members of the Muslim community that the forum would immediately challenge the judgment at the Supreme Court, expressing confidence that justice would ultimately prevail.
The judgment marks another chapter in the seven year legal battle involving 11 female Muslim students who instituted the suit after they were prevented from wearing the hijab as part of their school uniform.
It would be recalled that the Oyo State High Court ruled in favour of the students on May 22, 2024, holding that they were entitled to wear the hijab in line with their constitutional right to freedom of religion. Dissatisfied with the decision, the management of the International School University of Ibadan appealed the judgment.
The Friday judgment
The majority judgment delivered by Justice Biobele Georgewill, with the concurrence of Justice K. I. Amadi, held that the International School University of Ibadan is a private school and not a public institution.
Justice Georgewill held that the earlier Supreme Court judgment permitting the use of the hijab applied to public schools in Lagos State and could not automatically be extended to private schools.
He further held that freedom of religion is a personal right which may be waived by an individual.
According to him, the students had voluntarily accepted the rules and regulations of the school, including its dress code, when they signed an undertaking upon admission.
“In public schools, students can wear the hijab based on the judgment of the Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court is yet to make any pronouncement on the use of the hijab in private schools,” the judge held.
He consequently set aside the judgment of the High Court which had allowed the students to wear the hijab.
The appellate court, however, held that the action of confining the students in the school library for between three and four hours violated their rights and consequently reduced the damages awarded by the High Court from one million naira to two hundred thousand naira.
Justice Fadawu Umar, in his dissenting judgment, upheld the decision of the Oyo State High Court, maintaining that the female Muslim students were entitled to wear the hijab in the school.
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