The Court of Appeal in Ibadan has overturned a lower court ruling that allowed female Muslim students to wear the hijab at the International School, University of Ibadan (ISI).
Previously, Oyo State High Court Judge Moshood Ishola had ruled in favor of eleven students backed by the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).
Justice Ishola had declared the school’s uniform restriction a violation of the students’ fundamental human rights, a stance the appellate court has now rejected.
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, the defendant in the suit, the school authorities, filed an appeal that was adjudicated on Friday in Ibadan.
The three-member appellate jurists, in a split judgment of two to one, ruled that wearing a hijab is only binding on public schools, of which ISI is not.
The judgement was based on the Supreme Court, which ruled that wearing of hijab is permissible in the public schools.
Justice Biobele Georgewill, with Justice K.I. Amadi in their majority judgment, held that ISI is a private school, not a public institution, thereby overturning the earlier judgment on the matter.
He submitted that the right to religion is a personal right that can be waived.
According to him, the students had waived that right by signing an undertaking to obey ISI’s rules and regulations, including its dress code. “In public schools you can wear hijab on school uniforms based on the judgment of the Supreme Court. But the Supreme Court is yet to make any decision on the use of hijab in private schools,” he ruled.
In his minority ruling, Justice Fadawu Umar said the appeal lacked merit and should be dismissed.
