The Ansar-ud-deen Society of Nigeria has warned the Osun State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, against preventing hijab-wearing pupils from any public school in the state.
The warning was contained in a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of the group, Alhaji Muibi Adebanjo in Osogbo on Monday.
Adebanjo said while the group had nothing against CAN’s opinion on the reclassification of schools in the state by the Rauf Aregbesola administration, he warned that they would however, not tolerate the infringement on the rights of Muslim students, who had chosen to wear hijab.
It would be recalled that members of CAN had staged a peaceful protest some few weeks ago against the merging of hijab wearing pupils with pupils in Christian schools in the state.
The statement read, “The Ansar-ud-deen Society of Nigeria has been following with keen interest the recent changes in the education policy of the Osun State Government and the comments of the Christian Association of Nigeria on the merger of schools.
“Whilst we are not against CAN for airing their views on the implementation of the state government policy on the merger of schools, we detest its act of religious intolerance by protesting against Muslim children wearing hijab to their newly allocated schools in accordance to their faith.
“We want to remind the CAN that the issue of hijab wearing is the fundamental rights of any Muslim child that cannot be tampered with and should not be mixed up with the government policy on education. The action of CAN is capable of igniting religious crisis in the state that is presently enjoying peaceful coexistence amongst adherents of all religions.”
Adebanjo noted that the country was already grappling with the problem of insecurity, saying religious crisis should not be added to the problems hindering the country’s development.
-PUNCH
