The Muslim Public Affairs Centre (MPAC) Nigeria has condemned the harassment of female Muslim candidates at the Nigerian Law School’s Bwari Campus during the ongoing Bar Part II examinations and demanded full compliance with a 2022 Supreme Court judgment affirming the right to wear the hijab.
In a statement issued on Saturday, 31 October 2026, from Lagos, MPAC said Barrister Firdausa Amasa visited the Bwari Campus to monitor compliance after the Law School issued a circular permitting the hijab. In four examination halls, candidates wearing the hijab were allowed to enter and sit their papers without obstruction.
The situation differed at the Main Multipurpose Hall. Female candidates were stopped at the entrance and compelled to remove their hijab and re-wrap it on their heads in the style of a turban before being admitted. Amasa personally witnessed two candidates weeping at the entrance as a result of the treatment, the Muslim group stated.
MPAC also reported that the scrutiny extended beyond the hijab to long, modest dresses.
It said candidates wearing ankle-length dresses were stopped and told the garments were too long and should not be worn again; some were advised to wear shorter skirts.
In one incident in the auditorium, officials’ conduct was described as so aggressive that a non-Muslim candidate intervened in protest, MPAC said.
Affected candidates said the checks appeared selective: those in shorter dresses or with long coloured nails were allowed through without question, creating a perception that Muslim candidates were presumed to be in violation. Reports indicated the problems were more severe at the Lagos Campus.
The organisation noted that the Law School’s circular permitting the hijab was a positive step, but inconsistent enforcement in one hall undermined it.
MPAC emphasised that the legal position is settled. In Lagos State Government & Ors v. Asiyat Abdulkareem & Ors (SC/910/2016), the Supreme Court held on 17 June 2022 by a 5-2 majority that wearing the hijab is a manifestation of religion protected under Section 38 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and that prohibiting it constitutes discrimination under Section 42. The decision binds all authorities and persons in Nigeria under Section 287.
The judgment followed more than a decade of litigation that began with schoolgirls being stopped at school gates for wearing the hijab. It also followed the Law School’s own earlier controversy in December 2017, when Firdaus Amasa was excluded from the Call to Bar ceremony for wearing the hijab; the Body of Benchers later reversed that position in June 2018.
Compelling a woman to publicly unwrap her hijab and retie it as a turban, or stopping her for wearing a long, decent dress, is not ordinary dress regulation, MPAC argued. It amounts to a restriction on religious observance, a violation of dignity under Section 34, and discrimination under Section 42.
The conduct in the Multipurpose Hall, the group said, contradicted the Law School’s own circular, the Constitution and the Supreme Court judgment.
MPAC listed five demands:
The Director-General and Management of the Nigerian Law School must immediately instruct supervisors in the Multipurpose Hall to ensure full and uniform compliance across all halls and campuses for the remaining papers, covering both the hijab and long modest dresses.
A clear, unconditional directive must be re-issued to all invigilators that hijab-wearing candidates are to be admitted as permitted by law and that no candidate shall be harassed or sanctioned for wearing a long dress.
Assurance must be given that no candidate will be victimised or academically disadvantaged for exercising her constitutional right or for reporting the incidents.
The Law School must investigate the incidents at Bwari and the reported incidents in Lagos, identify those responsible, and take appropriate administrative action to prevent recurrence.
A public acknowledgement should be made to the affected candidates, with steps taken to ensure their performance is not prejudiced by the distress caused.
The group called on the Council of Legal Education, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and the Nigerian Bar Association to intervene urgently. It said it would continue to monitor the remaining examinations and invited candidates who experience or witness any breach to report confidentially via its website.
“A profession that exists to uphold the Constitution must not begin by violating it at its own entrance,” the statement concluded.
The statement was signed by Disu Kamor, Executive Chairman of MPAC Nigeria.