Muslim girls told to remove hijab or leave UI International School as court overturns 2022 ruling

• The Court of Appeal overturned a 2022 judgment that allowed Muslim students to wear hijab at the International School, University of Ibadan.

• The school has directed that, from Monday, students must comply with its uniform policy and not wear hijab with the school uniform.

• MURIC has appealed to the Supreme Court and is seeking to stop the ruling from taking effect while the case is heard.

Eleven Muslim girls at the International School, University of Ibadan, lost a legal battle eight years in the making on Friday, after a Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan overturned an earlier ruling that had permitted them to wear hijab as part of their school uniform.

The appellate court, in a split decision of two to one, ruled that the Supreme Court's existing judgment allowing hijab in schools applies strictly to public institutions, and that ISI, which it classified as a private school, is not bound by it.

The school moved swiftly. A notice issued to parents and guardians directed that from Monday, July 6, no student would be permitted to wear a hijab with the school uniform.

The dispute dates back to 2018, when a group of Muslim students first challenged ISI's prohibition of the headscarf. Four years later, in 2022, the Oyo State High Court sided with them, with Justice Moshood Ishola ruling that the ban violated their constitutional rights to freedom of religion and freedom from discrimination. The school appealed that decision, setting the stage for Friday's ruling.

Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Biobele Georgewill, with Justice K.I. Amadi, concurring, held that the students had effectively waived their religious rights by signing undertakings to comply with the school's rules and regulations upon enrolment.

"In public schools, you can wear hijab on school uniforms based on the judgment of the Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court is yet to make any decision on the use of hijab in private schools," Justice Georgewill said.

Justice Fadawu Umar disagreed, holding in a dissenting opinion that the appeal had no merit and should have been dismissed entirely.

The ruling has not gone unanswered. The Muslim Rights Concern, which backed the original suit, has since filed both a Notice of Appeal and a motion at the Supreme Court seeking to stop enforcement of the judgment while the appeal is heard. 

MURIC argues that ISI's classification as a private school is incorrect, given that it is owned and funded by the Federal Government through the University of Ibadan.

Reactions online have split sharply along religious and constitutional lines. Critics of the ruling have argued that a school funded by federal resources cannot selectively apply constitutional protections, while others have maintained that private institutions retain the right to enforce their own dress codes regardless of a student's religious beliefs.

The Supreme Court has not yet responded to MURIC's application.

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