An Osun State High Court has ruled that female Muslim students can now wear hijab in all public primary and secondary schools in the state.
Delivering the judgement on Friday in Osogbo, the state’s capital, Justice Jide Falola ruled that the use of hijab by female Muslims was their fundamental human right to freedom of religion, conscience and thought.
He held that no female student must be molested or sent out of school for wearing hijab.
Justice Falola declared that since all missionary schools had been taken over by government in 1975, all students have equal rights to practice their religions.
However, he noted that such hijab must match the color of their school uniforms.
Counsels to the state’s Muslim Community and Christian Association of Nigeria, Kozeem Odedeji and Femi Ayandokun, expressed different opinions to the judgement.
The case was instituted in February 2013 by the Osun State Muslim Community and the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria.