By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
The Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan has ordered that status quo be maintained on the judgement delivered last Friday on the wearing of hijab by the female students of the International School, University of Ibadan (ISI).
The court gave the order on Wednesday, July 8, at the sitting on the application filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) in a suit marked CA/IB/347/2024, praying the court to grant an injunction restraining the implementation of the judgement delivered on the matter.
Counsel to the applicant, Hassan Taiwo Fajimite, in his argument, prayed the court for an injunction for a stay of execution of the judgement delivered last Friday.
Fajimite submitted that neither the University of Ibadan nor the International School had the legal authority to prevent Muslim female students from wearing hijab or take disciplinary action against them while the matter remained before the courts.
The three-man panel of the Appellate Court led by Justice K.I. Amadi queried the rationale behind the implementation of the judgement when the certified true copy of the judgement is yet to be released.
After listening to the submissions of both parties, the court directed that the status quo be maintained pending the determination of the application before it and subsequently adjourned the matter to October 7 for further hearing.
Recall that the Court of Appeal in Ibadan on Friday, July 3, in a split two-to-one judgement, overturned the ruling of the Oyo State High Court, which had earlier permitted the wearing of hijab as part of the school uniform.
Justice Moshood Ishola of the Oyo State High Court, while ruling on the case filed by 11 female Muslim students with the support of Muslim Rights Concern, had described the position of the school authority on the matter as an infringement on the fundamental human rights of the affected students.
He ruled that the ban violated the students’ rights to freedom of religion and freedom from discrimination under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
However, while delivering the majority judgement of the Appeal Court last Friday, Justices Biobele Georgewill and K.I. Amadi stated that ISI-UI is considered a private school since it does not receive government funding.
The court also noted that the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling, which allowed hijabs, applies only to public schools in Lagos State and does not extend to private institutions such as ISI-UI.
On fundamental rights, the court held that the right to religion is personal and can be waived. The judges said the students had waived that right by signing the school’s code of conduct, which includes compliance with the uniform policy.
“In public schools, you can wear hijab on school uniforms based on the judgement of the Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court is yet to make any decision on the use of hijab in private schools.
“No infringement of rights was noticed,” Justice Georgewill, who read the lead judgment, said.
However, the court faulted ISI for locking the students in the library for three to four hours, describing it as a violation of their rights. It reduced damages awarded by the Oyo State High Court from N1 million to N200,000.
The minority judgement, read by Justice Fadawu Umar, upheld the High Court’s decision and dismissed ISI’s appeal for lacking merit.
