Allow sleeping dogs to lie – MURIC warns Lagos Govt over Hijab

*As Appeal Court strikes out stay of execution order by Ambode’s government

*Hijab ruling test of democracy, rule of law in Lagos State – Akintola

*’We await CAN’s reaction to persecution of Muslims in Southern Nigeria’

By Kemi Kasumu

“Without being immodest, we assure all and sundry that we know our rights. Any school authority who disallows female Muslim students or pupils from using hijab risks being jailed for contempt of court. We have been patient enough. Our children have listened to us. They eschewed violence. They obeyed the rules of decorum. Now the die is cast… Lagos Muslims went to court instead of going violent and the courts have decided. Lagos government must allow the law to take its due course.”

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has warned the Lagos State Government against the consequences of not allowing the law to take its due course as it advises that once the law has taken its stand on any issue, all parties must abide.

The Muslim rights group handed down this warning in a press release signed by its Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, copy of which was emailed to The DEFENDER on Wednesday.

MURIC was reacting to Tuesday decision of the Lagos Appeal Court’s decision, which struck out the stay of execution order sought by the Lagos State Government on the right of female Muslim students to use hijab with their school uniforms and outside the school premises.

Asiyat Abdul Kareem, through her father, Mariam Oyeniyi and the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria had won appeal of case CA/L/135/15 against the Lagos State Government on 21^st July, 2016 when all the five judges of the Lagos Appeal Court approved the use of hijab in Lagos public schools. The state government immediately approached the Supreme Court to appeal the case and also sought a stay of the execution at the Appeal Court.

While the religious rights organisation hailed the rejection of the stay of execution sought by the Lagos Government describing it as “bold, convincing and reassuring,” it said the appellate court’s action had cemented Muslims’ faith in the judiciary as truly the last hope of the common man.

According to the release, MURIC appealed to the Lagos State Government to allow sleeping dogs to lie.

“There is a limit even for official ego. There must come a time when government scoops to allow the general will to prevail. But the law is on the side of the general will this time. A government installed via democratic process cannot afford to disrespect a court judgment. This latest decision is legally binding and Lagos has no choice. After all, it is the center of excellence.

“The honourable path is for the center of excellence to walk its talk. The state government must instruct the Ministry of Education to tell school principals to allow female Muslim children to use hijab in public schools.

“Without being immodest, we assure all and sundry that we know our rights. Any school authority who disallows female Muslim students or pupils from using hijab risks being jailed for contempt of court. We have been patient enough. Our children have listened to us. They eschewed violence. They obeyed the rules of decorum. Now the die is cast.

“Muslims have been accused severally of resorting to spontaneous violence even though they have always been provoked. But the case is different this time around. Lagos Muslims went to court instead of going violent and the courts have decided. Lagos government must allow the law to take its due course.

“Finally, Nigerians and indeed the rest of the world must see this as a test case for democracy and the rule of law in Lagos State. We want to know how democratic are our democrats? To be or not to be? That is the question. Whether Lagos will respect the courts and allow the students to use hijab as ordered by the court or whether the grandstanding, the stigmatisation, the oppression and persecution will continue is left to be seen. The world is watching.”

…’We await CAN’s reaction to persecution of Muslims in Southern Nigeria’

Some Muslim faithful, earlier before the court gave its verdict, had taken a swipe on Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), which they described as being actively involved in Southern Kaduna non-religious crisis that was largely misrepresented and falsely reported as one.  They said they were waiting to see how CAN, which they said was part of the plight of Muslims in the South West, would react to how the government of Lagos purportedly headed by one of its own was watching Muslim children in schools being persecuted by Christian principals because of hijab.

Some of them responding to The DEFENDER agreed that CAN was only being sensational against Muslims in the North whereas, they said, the Christian Association of Nigeria knew well that it had not only shown enough hate to Muslims in Southern Nigeria but also that it had done the worst of persecution of Islamic faithful in the part of the country, relying on the claim of having stronger influences, using the instrumentality of government and the media.