The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has faulted a statement credited to the Federal Government last week that it would not interfere in the hijab imbroglio which has embroiled the South West.
MURIC Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, said in a statement on Tuesday that the Federal Government cannot afford to ignore this serious human rights abuse within in its domain.
According to him, the whole country is FG’s constituency and wonder if the government was not concerned that the girl-child is being chased out of school on account of her religion?
“School girls in hijab were locked out of the school gates in the University of Ibadan International School (UIS) and Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Staff School, Ogbomosho.
“The same has happened in Abeokuta and Lagos. Apart from this, the courts in the South West are saturated with hijab cases.
“The court cases underline the need for FG to direct the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation to invite all the commissioners for Justice in the affected states to discuss the issue.
“There are serious implications involved in this hijab imbroglio. It is more than just simple denial of a head cover.
“Those who deprive female Muslim children of the right to use hijab are engaging in child abuse, stigmatization and profiling.
“By treating the Muslim girl-child with contempt and derision, they expose her to ridicule, assault the dignity of her human person and rob her of her self-confidence.” Akintola said.
He added that the Federal Government’s lack of interest is already breeding impunity and illegality as other federal agencies have made it their cardinal duty to persecute Muslim women who wear hijab.
He said the excesses manifest in immigration department where Muslim women in hijab are forced to remove it before ‘capturing’ takes place for processing international passports.
He said similar experiences were recorded in the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) where women in hijab are subjected to this humiliating demand before ‘capturing’ for driving licenses.
“The involvement of federal agencies in the victimization of Muslim women makes it more imperative for FG to show interest. It proves that the problem is not limited to the South West. It has national spread. FG must rise to the occasion before it is too late.
“The Muslims are complaining now without being violent. We are still fortunate that MURIC, which is spearheading the matter is a non-violent human rights group which employs civilized methods to make its demands.
“We must not wait until extremist elements hijack the struggle. We remind FG that justice is the soul of peace. Those who deny one cannot enjoy the other.
“We call on FG to review its stand on non-involvement in the hijab affair. It is a matter of serious national concern. We urge FG to urgently issue a circular to all its ministries and agencies stopping the illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional intimidation of women in hijab as explained above.
“We assert that denial of right to use hijab in schools is child abuse, stigmatization, promotion of girl-child depression and deprivation of girl-child education,” he said.
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