By BIOLA AZEEZ, Ilorin

Against the directive of the Kwara State government on approval of hijab for female muslim students in public schools, the leadership of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) has said that it will not welcome the directive in all its schools in the state.

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin on Friday, the chairman, ECWA Ilorin District Church Council, Reverend (Dr.) John Owoeye, said that ECWA schools were established by the Christian missionaries for purposes of reaching communities with the love of Christ and to meet educational needs of the indigenes irrespective of religious affiliations, among other reasons.

The ECWA church leaders, who demanded return of ECWA schools to them, said that since 1974 when there was agreement on collaboration between the state government and the proprietor for the school to be grant-aided schools, “the policy has never been total takeover of our schools by the government.”

Owoeye, who said that Christians are bonafide citizens of the state, added that “we have equal right under the provisional constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

He argued that the government is aware that Christian Religious Knowledge (CRK) teachers are not posted to Muslim grant-aided schools and that the gathering of Fellowship of Christian Students (FCS) are not allowed in Muslim grant-aided schools.

“Similarly, we want the government to be informed that its decision and plan to provide hijab and enforce its use in our Christian mission grant-aided schools will not be tolerated as it is an infringement on our freedom of religion has enshrined in the constitution of Nigeria,” he said. (Nigerian Tribune)

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