Ogboji In a majority decision of five in favour and two dissenting, the Supreme Court of Nigeria on Friday, June 17, in Abuja, affirmed the rights of female Muslim Students in Lagos state public primary and secondary schools to wear hijab. The seven-member panel of the Supreme Court affirmed the July 21, 2016 judgment of the Court of Appeal, Lagos, which set aside the October 17, 2014 judgment by Justice Grace Onyeabo of the High Court of Lagos State, which upheld the hijab restriction. Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, who wrote the lead majority judgment, which was read by Justice Tijani Abubakar, dismissed the appeal filed by Lagos State against the 2016 judgment of the Court of Appeal, Lagos, on the grounds that the appeal was without merit. The Supreme Court held that wearing the hijab was an Islamic injunction and an act of worship required of Muslims, and consequently, the banning of female Muslim students from wearing it to school is a violation of their fundamental rights to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, the dignity of human persons and freedom from discrimination. The apex court heavily relied on section 38 of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees every Nigerian citizen the […]
