The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has urged the Nigerian Law School to allow female Muslim students wearing hijab to sit for the final Bar examination, warning against collective punishment over an alleged examination malpractice incident.
The appeal followed reports of a verbal directive allegedly issued by the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, barring hijab-wearing candidates from entering examination halls ahead of the final Bar examination scheduled for Saturday, October 31, 2026, in Abuja, Lagos and Yenagoa.
In a statement issued late Friday, MURIC’s Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, described the alleged directive as discriminatory, arguing that it unfairly targets all hijab-wearing Muslim candidates over the alleged misconduct of an individual student.
The controversy reportedly followed an incident in which a female Muslim student wearing hijab was allegedly found with an earpod during an examination, prompting the reported restriction on candidates wearing the Islamic head covering.
ALSO RREAD [EDITORIAL] No girl should be denied education for wearing hijab
While condemning examination malpractice and indiscipline, Akintola said the student involved should face appropriate disciplinary measures if found culpable after proper investigation, rather than subjecting other candidates to a blanket restriction.
He recalled the controversy surrounding Amasa Firdaus, whose refusal to remove her hijab at the Nigerian Law School’s call-to-bar ceremony in 2017 generated widespread debate over religious rights and institutional regulations.
According to him, barring Muslim women from wearing hijab during the examination violates their fundamental human rights and could subject them to psychological trauma.
MURIC also argued that the alleged directive contravenes the principle of natural justice and the prohibition of collective punishment, citing Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits punishing individuals for offences they did not personally commit.
Akintola questioned why an entire category of candidates should be restricted because of an alleged offence by one student, insisting that the hijab itself was not responsible for the alleged examination malpractice.
” Hijab is therefore not the offender. It should not be banned from the examination hall. Taking it out on the other hijab wearers amounts to stereotyping,” he said.
The organisation urged the Nigerian Law School authorities to reconsider the alleged directive, stressing that no institution is above the law and that individual misconduct should not be used to deny others their rights.
MURIC also said there were unverified reports that the Lagos campus had agreed to allow hijab-wearing female Muslim candidates to write the examination.
It consequently appealed to the Abuja and Yenagoa campuses to follow the same course and permit all eligible candidates to participate in the examination without discrimination.
