MURIC Faults Alleged Law School Hijab Ban Ahead of Call-to-Bar Exams
The Muslim rights group says a reported directive targeting hijab-wearing candidates amounts to collective punishment over an alleged examination misconduct incident
By Abdullahi Yusuf
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has challenged an alleged directive by the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School barring hijab-wearing female students from entering examination halls, describing it as an unfair restriction on Muslim candidates preparing for their final call-to-bar examinations.
In a statement issued late on Friday, 30 October, the organisation’s Founder and Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, said the alleged verbal directive could prevent hijab-wearing Muslim women from sitting the examinations scheduled for Saturday, 31 October, at the Law School’s campuses in Abuja, Lagos and Yenagoa.
MURIC said the reported directive followed an incident in which a hijab-wearing student was allegedly found with an earpod during an examination. While saying it does not condone cheating or indiscipline, the organisation recommended that the student face due punishment after a proper investigation, and argued that the sanction should not be extended to all hijab-wearing candidates.
Akintola said the alleged directive amounted to stereotyping Muslim women and collective punishment, arguing that other students should not bear the consequences of an offence attributed to one candidate.
“Hijab is therefore not the offender,” he said. “It should not be banned from the examination hall.”
He recalled the Amasa Firdaus hijab controversy, which began in 2017, saying the Law School had taken this road before and it “led to nowhere.”
The MURIC director also argued that stopping hijab-wearing women from wearing it could cause psychological trauma and violate the principles of natural justice. “No person, not even an institution, is above the law,” he said.
Citing Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Akintola invoked what he called the prohibition of collective punishment, maintaining that a group should not be penalised for an offence committed by an individual.
MURIC called the issues it raised “fundamental” and made what it described as a “very strong recommendation” that the Law School “side-step” the alleged directive.
The organisation said there were unverified reports that the Lagos campus had announced it would allow hijab-wearing female Muslim students to sit the examination. It called on the authorities in Abuja and Yenagoa to allow the candidates to do the same.
MURIC’s statement did not include a response from the Law School, and the alleged directive has not been independently confirmed.
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