Muslim group condemn 'prosecution' of women wearing hijab

oge okonkwo

January 30, 2015 6:08 PM

The organisation's president, Nimatullah Abdul Lateef appealed to the government to enact a law that would curb the excesses of 'religious fanatics' who use their offices in agencies to 'torture' Muslim women

A Muslim group has expressed worry over the 'discrimination, intimidation and harassment' of Muslim women in the country for wearing the hijab.

The Al-Mu’minaat (Believing Women) organisation, ahead of the World Hijab Day slated for Sunday, says 'it is regrettable that school students and even corps members, were not exempted from the cruelty.'

The organisation's president, Nimatullah Abdul Lateef asks why this had to be lot of female Muslims in Nigeria when the constitution and several other documents and protocols, to which the country is a signatory, uphold rights to freedom of religion and expression.

Hajia Abdul Lateef therefore appealed to the government to enact a law that would curb the excesses of 'religious fanatics' who, she said, use their offices in agencies and parastatals to 'torture' Muslim women or any other person when they go there to obtain documents.

“Perhaps Nigerians should be reminded that all the divine religions, from Judaism to Christianity and Islam, recognise the use of the head cover for women. We, therefore, conceive the attack on Muslim women in hijab as a deliberate attempt to dehumanise them," she said.

The group then invited all women in the country, in the spirit of the World Hijab Day, to don the hijab in order to experience what it is like to wear the hijab.

oge okonkwo