Appeal Court orders status quo in ISI hijab case, adjourns hearing to Oct. 7

UI International School Students

Appeal Court orders status quo in ISI hijab case, adjourns hearing to Oct. 7

The Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan has ordered all parties to maintain the status quo in the legal dispute over the use of the hijab by Muslim female students at the International School, University of Ibadan (ISI), pending the hearing of an application for stay of execution.

The directive was issued on Wednesday by a three-member panel led by Justice K.I. Amadi while hearing an application for an injunction pending appeal and stay of execution filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).

The appellate court also directed that no action should be taken to harass, intimidate or discipline the affected Muslim students pending the determination of the application, stressing that all parties must preserve the subject matter of the case until the court delivers its decision.

Justice Amadi questioned why steps had allegedly been taken to enforce the court’s earlier judgment when the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the ruling had not yet been released. The court noted that parties should refrain from actions capable of altering the existing situation once an application for stay of execution is before the court.

Following arguments from counsel representing all parties, the panel ordered that the existing situation be maintained and adjourned the matter until October 7, 2026, for the hearing of the application.

Court documents showed that the case, marked CA/IB/347/2024, was listed among the civil motions before the Ibadan Judicial Division of the Court of Appeal.

Counsel to MURIC, Hassan Taiwo Fajimite, urged the court to preserve the subject matter of the appeal by granting an injunction pending appeal and staying the execution of the Court of Appeal’s judgment delivered on July 3.

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According to him, neither the University of Ibadan nor the International School, University of Ibadan possesses the legal authority to prevent willing Muslim female students from wearing the hijab or subject them to disciplinary measures while the matter remains before the courts.

Fajimite further informed the court that MURIC intended to file a fresh application for stay of execution, explaining that the earlier application was no longer ripe for hearing following recent developments. Counsel representing the University of Ibadan and ISI did not oppose the request for an adjournment.

The latest order follows last Friday’s split judgment of the Court of Appeal, which overturned the earlier decision of the Oyo State High Court that had affirmed the constitutional right of willing Muslim female students to wear the hijab at the school.

In the majority judgment, the appellate court held that the International School, University of Ibadan is a private institution and that the Supreme Court’s earlier decision recognising the right of Muslim female students to wear the hijab applies only to public schools. The court also ruled that parents and students voluntarily accepted the school’s rules, including its dress code, upon admission.

However, one member of the panel delivered a dissenting judgment, maintaining that the appeal lacked merit and that the High Court’s decision should have been upheld.

The judgment generated widespread reactions from Muslim organisations across Nigeria. Shortly after the ruling, MURIC filed a Notice of Appeal at the Supreme Court, insisting that the International School should not be regarded as a private institution because it is owned and supervised by the University of Ibadan, a federally owned public university.

The organisation also warned against what it described as premature enforcement of the appellate court’s judgment, arguing that doing so could prejudice the pending appeal before the country’s highest court.

Tension briefly surfaced on Monday, the first school day after the judgment, when some Muslim female students wearing the hijab were reportedly stopped by security personnel at the school’s gate before eventually being allowed into the premises after intervention by parents and other stakeholders.

Wednesday’s order is expected to temporarily calm tensions by preserving the existing situation until the Court of Appeal hears MURIC’s application on October 7. The substantive legal battle over the use of the hijab at the International School, University of Ibadan is, however, expected to continue before the Supreme Court, whose eventual decision could have far-reaching implications for dress code policies and the balance between institutional regulations and constitutional rights in educational institutions across Nigeria.