Hijab: I stand with Kwara Muslim girls, says Abdulrazaq

Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State has said he is in full support of the use of hijab for female Muslims in the state.

He said his position was in line with the previous court judgments on the matter and with the status of Kwara as a “plural society whose diversity and peaceful coexistence as the southernmost northern state are its most unique selling points.”

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Abdulrazaq said his administration was beholden only to the law, truth and fairness to all at all times.

This followed accusations from the Muslim and Christian communities in the state that he had not been definite on the matter because of political considerations.

The family and Muslims particularly rejected the N1m compensation the government gave to the family of Habeeb Idris who was killed during a recent protest in Oyun Baptist High School, Ijagbo, over the hijab.

Also, the 11 Muslims who were injured during the fracas rejected the N250,000 offered by the government.

But Governor Abdulrazaq in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Rafiu Ajakaye, said the government’s strategic patience in handling delicate matters involving the people it swore to protect was not the same as pandering to anyone’s whims.

 He appealed to the people not to allow agents of fake news and disinformation to mislead them and set them against one another.