The Christian community in Kwara State has described the temporary closure of ten grant-aided Christian schools in the Ilorin metropolis as unfair and wrong.
At a special meeting and prayer session organised by the state Christian Association of Nigeria on Sunday, to seek God’s intervention in some protracted issues, the body also demanded the return of Christian schools to the owners and no hijab dress code in Christian schools.
In their remarks, Rev. J. A. Dada, President, Kwara Baptist Convention and Rev. Reuben Ibitoye, state Secretary of CAN, said Christians in Kwara State are making two key demands.
“The return of our schools and that no use of hijab in our schools.”
They said, ” CAN does not want the schools to lose the identity of being built and owned by churches.”
Barrister Shina Ibiyemi, CAN’s legal Advisor, who gave the legal angle of the controversy, explained that there was never anytime the hijab issue was a subject of contention in a law court in the state.
He described the closure of the ten schools as “An attempt to force Co-proprietors of the schools to concede the usage of hijab.”
DAILY POST recalls that ten government grant-aided Christian schools were shut temporarily closed in Ilorin last week, to avert breakdown of law and order following the face-off triggered by the issue of hijab between Muslim and Christian communities in schools.
Meanwhile, the state government on Sunday, said the ten schools will remain shut pending the announcement of its position on the use of the Muslim headcover in the schools.
Secretary to the State Government, Professor Mamman Saba Jibril, in a statement, said, “This is to avert any breakdown of law and order while the government concludes consultations with relevant stakeholders.”
He urged members of the public to remain calm and peaceful, as an official pronouncement of the government’s position is likely this week.
The government further “appealed to parents, officials and authorities at the affected schools to maintain peace and avoid making comments or doing anything that could cause further misunderstanding and heat up the polity.”
