Outrage has trailed a video of a lecturer at the Afebabalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) harassing a Muslim female student for refusing to remove her hijab in public.
The video which made it to social media on Friday evening, November 17, 2023, showed the lecturer using his phone to film the yet-to-be-identified student as he tried to remove her hijab.
However, the female student kept spinning making it to be difficult for the lecturer to get her naked in public.
Muslim student in Abuad refused to remove her head covering after the lecturer told her to, then he proceeded to make video recordings of her to send to the VC of the school.
pic.twitter.com/sKE8uHqpum— Dami’ Adenuga (@DAMIADENUGA) November 18, 2023
ABUAD is a private university situated in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Southwest, Nigeria. The institution was established in 2009 by renowned lawyer and philanthropist, Afe Babalola.
The school is yet to comment on the development but it has reignited discussions around the issue of religious discrimination within educational settings.
@UthmanTochukwu wrote; “Every institutions is built upon Law and that includes @Abuad_Uni and no Law or regulation is superior to the Law of the Law (The Constitution).
“It is therefore very laughable and evoid of logical argument both in common sense and Law that a school regulation should be over and Above the constitution of the Land.
“The constitution is Supreme and above every other Law, no other Law, rules, regulations or conventions should be inconsistent with the provisions of the constitution. It is void to the extent of that it’s inconsistency. Even if @Abuad_Uni made that rules let’s assume without conceding, it must not be inconsistent with Section 38 of the 1999 constitution. We must respect the right to freedom religion no matter the authority.”
@Christophe72119; “Let women breathe. They came to school to broaden their horizon, not to have their brains clouded by hijab. Worry more about other social issues bedeviling the girl-child, such as early marriage, rape, illiteracy. You hypocrite.”
@flakkyBanky reacted; “Is this a Christian university? If yes, then her rights to hair covering is not absolute, she has to follow the rules of the institution. If no, that lecturer has not right to do that and he should be queried for invading the lady’s fundamental right.”
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@zhullyyy_ said; ‘Students in Abuad are not sold food simply because they are putting on a scarf. Why would you enforce a rule out of nowhere now and expect existing students to abide by it??
“A reverend sister is allowed to wear her regalia in Abuad but it’s a problem when a Muslim wants to put on her scarf, is Abuad a Christian university? They should make it clear. This is discrimination!”
@MFaarees_; “It’s always Muslim girls being harassed & denied their right to wear hijab in universities, you’ll never hear that a certain northern university is forcing Christian girls to dress in a certain way, this has to stop, the management of Abuad needs to stop harassing our sisters.”
@Waspapping_; “The management of
@Abuad_Uni needs to swiftly tackle the issue of discrimination against sisters in Hijab. Just like non-Muslims who are free to dress half naked, our Muslim sisters have the right to wear the hijab without encountering any form of discrimination or harassment.”
The ABUAD incident is not an isolated event. There have been previous instances where Nigerian schools have imposed restrictions on the use of hijabs, particularly among Muslim girls.
The Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) management banned the use of Niqab in 2021, leading to criticism from Muslims and human rights groups.
But in September 2023, the school lifted the ban after Muslim students in their numbers, took to the University’s gate, carrying placards with different inscriptions to protest against the bullying and victimization by the school management against students wearing Niqab.
This practice, deeply rooted in religious bias, continues to stir controversy and breed discontent amongst Nigeria’s Muslim community.
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