From Layi Olanrewaju, Ilorin

Kwara State is at a crossroads. Again, it is over the use of hijab by Muslim female students in government grant-aided Christian mission schools.

Although the issue has been lingering for years, it recently escalated resulting in outright confrontation between adherents of the two faiths, disruption of school activities and loss of life and property.

The latest being on February 3, 2022, at Oyun Baptist Grammar School (OBGS), Ijagbo. In the course of the angry spat between Christians and Muslims in the school, one person was killed while several others were reportedly injured, forcing the authorities to hurriedly close the school.

Governor AbdulRahman Abdul- Razaq inaugurated a Commission of Inquiry to look into the crisis. The panel, headed by Dr Shehu Omoniyi Ibrahim, had Modupe Agboola, Dr Saudat Abdulbaki, Ibrahim Zubair Danmaigoro and Reverend Timothy Akangbe as members while Ishola Olofere served as secretary.

The panel established roles played by individuals, recommended punishments and steps to take to avoid recurrence. It submitted its report on April 29, 2022. The governor pledged to convoke an interfaith dialogue as recommended by the panel to strengthen peace, tolerance and understanding among adherents of both faiths.

Ibrahim while handing over the report urged the government to institute periodic interfaith dialogue or a bi-annual interfaith convention with the aim of promoting religious harmony: “We reviewed several reports of previous committees set up by the government on religious matters.

“We noted with regret that the only point that could not be agreed upon is still the hijab issue. We also noted that the issue of hijab had been promoted to public discussion since 2007, and yet could not be resolved by previous governments.”

Daily Sun gathered that part of the panel’s recommendations were a review of the policy on grant-aided schools to clarify grey areas; police investigation into the violence that claimed one life at Ijagbo and the prosecution of any culprit involved in the incident to avoid a reoccurrence.

The panel also recommended an official action on specific individuals indicted of negligence or collusion in the crisis; payment of the hospital bills of those injured and the appeasement of the family that lost its loved one.

However, the panel endorsed the state government’s policy that allowed any female Muslim child to wear hijab in all categories of public schools, saying the policy should stand except overruled by the judgement of the Supreme Court.

This position did not go down well with Christians who felt oppressed by the authorities. In its reaction, the state Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), said while the association was fully in support of interfaith dialogue, it was vehemently opposed to the use of hijab in grant- aided mission schools.

Its Public Relations Officer (PRO), Sina Ibiyemi, said: “CAN’s position is still a big NO to the use of hijab in its grant-aided Christian mission schools in Kwara State. Some grey areas were intentionally created to forcefully take away our churches, lands and other properties where we cited our schools.

“The lands on which most of the Christian mission schools were built were duly purchased and acquired with the required Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) and not the disinformation that the lands were given as gifts to the missionaries.

“For ease of reference, the matter taken to court by CAN and proprietors of the grant-aided mission schools in Kwara State was to have full control of administration, policies and teachings in these schools, because we realised that the government is not recruiting CRS/CRK teachers in the mission schools and those schools are not maintained by the government, apart from the salaries paid to teachers and other staff.

“We filed the case within time at the Supreme Court, but there is no date for the hearing yet. What is in the Supreme Court does not include the hijab issue. In short, our demand is that the government should return our schools to us as that would engender permanent peace in the state.

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“The issue of hijab had never been an issue in the state before now. If you look at previous governments in the state, none of them forced the use of hijab on these schools.

“We are a bit concerned and confused about what is now happening. We felt some individuals wanted to use a device to take over our properties from us. In a sane clime, everyone will maintain the status quo ante bellum.

“Oyun Baptist Grammar School (OBGS) uniform does not include the use of hijab and no institution or government should enforce the same on any mission school. Religion is personal and should not be enforced by anybody, institution or government on others; same with mode of dressing” they held.

“This is an act of oppression, injustice and intolerance. We can’t force others to accept our point of view and religion or faith, and it should be vice versa with the Islamic faith.

“For ease of reference, the lands upon which the schools were built include proprietors’ churches, houses, hotels and farmlands, among others.

“Proprietors and CAN have mutual understanding with the government that we should apply for our schools and the same will be returned to us.

And we all applied. We told the government that those schools are our heritage and we are ready to pay the staff their salaries if and when the schools are returned to us.

“Thereafter, Lagos, Delta, Ekiti, Ogun and Ondo states returned some of the missionary schools on demand by their mission owners. We were invited by the state government and we were told that there are some laws in Kwara State that needed to be repealed for our schools to be returned to us.

“We told the governor that it was not necessary, and that what mattered most was his will to return our schools to us. But, since then, no action on this has been taken by the same state government.

“It is sad the way Christians are being marginalised and poorly treated in Kwara State. I want to use this medium to appeal to all good people of the state to plead with the state government to do the needful and allow peace to reign in the state.”

State coordinator of Muslim stakeholders, Isiaq AbdulKareem, said: “CAN leadership should abide by the law. They lost at Kwara High Court in 2016 and at the Appeal Court in 2019.

“Our three conditions are: Those that killed a Muslim and maimed about 11 persons in the Ijagbo school violence should be brought to book; there should be compensation for the family of the deceased and Oyun Baptist High School should be renamed Oyun High School because it is owned by the state government and not by CAN or Ijagbo Christian community.”

Investigations indicated the peace of the graveyard in the areas affected by the hijab controversy as adherents of both faiths are standing their grounds.

Meanwhile, government set up another committee to look at the panel’s report and come up with a White Paper just as it reopened Oyun Baptist High School Ijagbo, on Friday, June 3, 2022 for academic activities.

Government urged stakeholders to give peace a chance and respect the law. It warned it would not hesitate to shut the school again if there was a threat to peace.