By Ishaya Ibrahim
Hijab-wearing candidates for the mock Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) at Covenant University centre, were said to have been denied entry into the campus to take the test held last week.
The university, owned by Bishop David Oyedepo, is situated at Canaanland in Ota, Ogun State.
In a trending video on Twitter, some of the candidates adorning hijab, which is a head covering for Muslims, claimed they were denied entry into the venue of the mock examination organised annually by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board in many centres across the country. Covenant University is one such centre.
“This is Mr Olayode Akeem who brought a child for a mock examination at Covenant University. I was surprised he came here this morning. And all the candidates with hijab, were denied entry to write the examination.
“These are the candidates with hijab who are being denied to write the examination. And these are the security men who said they should not… they are acting on the instruction given to them by their head,” the voice of a male person doing the recording said.
The man filming the scene also spoke to some of the female candidates wearing the hijab but denied entry into the centre.
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“Why are you outside?” the male voice asked one of the female candidates.
“They did not allow us to enter because we wore hijab,” she replied.
“Because of hijab, they did not allow us to enter,” another female candidate said.
“And you too,” the male voice asked a third female candidate wearing the hijab. “They did not allow us to go in because of hijab,” she also said.
It was gathered that the candidates were later allowed to sit for the mock examination after some time.
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) in a statement, said the affected Muslim candidates were delayed for about 40 minutes.
In the statement, MURIC called on the authorities of JAMB to sanction Canaanland and Covenant University “for disallowing hijab-clad girls from entering their premises for today’s mock examination”.
“The Muslim girls were delayed for 48 minutes while the examination was going on,” it added.
The group further said, “In the case of Canaanland, the students who begged for permission to enter were ignored until a parent sent Save Our Soul Message (SOS) to MURIC headquarters which sprang into action by contacting JAMB authorities as well as the Ogun State branch of MURIC. The SOS produced some results and the coordinator of the centre soon came with his car to ferry three hijab-clad girls into the exam hall.
“The number of Muslim girls who wore hijab was actually more than that but about five or six had surrendered by removing their hijab after begging for more than one hour. Those who removed their hijab were allowed to go inside.
“Ogun State chapter of MURIC condemns this coercion, harassment and religious apartheid. We demand action from the JAMB authorities against the host communities, Canaanland and Covenant University. Those who cannot tolerate Muslim girls in hijab should not apply to host public examinations. Canaanland and Covenant have subjected Muslim girls to embarrassment, stigmatization and persecution.”
On Twitter, Nigerians have been debating the action of Covenant University.
@KawuGarba said: “Covenant University refused Muslim girls entrance to write a JAMB mock examination because they wear Hijabs. Islamaphobia has eaten deep into the mind of Christian Schools in Nigeria.”
@morningsignz said: “Can a Christian girl participate in a Muslim school without hijab? But you would want a Muslim to wear hijab in a Christian school? Covenant University is a Christian school. They didn’t apply to you, you applied to them. So stick with the rules of the school or stat out!”
@DanielRegha said: “Covenant University was wrong to delay Muslim candidates “in Hijab” from taking their exams; This does nothing but promotes religious discrimination & intolerance. No-one should be intimidated cos of their religion. The school needs to be sanctioned (if the reports are true).”
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