Religion

Lagos lifts hijab ban in schools

25 Jul, 2016

Lagos court overturns school hijab ban on religious grounds.

The Lagos appeal court has overturned a ban on female Muslim students wearing the hijab headscarf at government schools in Lagos state, ruling that it violated the girls’ religious rights.

The lifting of the law, which banned Muslim girls from wearing the hijab on the grounds that it was not part of Lagos state school uniforms, has been welcomed by local organisation Muslim Rights Concern (MRC).

The ruling comes after two Muslim girls challenged the Lagos hijab ban, taking their case to the appeal court after the high court ruled against them in 2013.

It is not clear whether the Lagos state government will seek to challenge the ruling at the supreme court.

In June the high court in the southern Nigerian state of Osun also lifted a ban on Muslim girls wearing hijabs in schools, ruling that the law constituted an infringement on their fundamental rights.