…Combatants threaten more fracas.
By Wole Adedeji, Ilorin
Not less than four persons were yesterday seriously wounded as the ten shut Christian schools tried to reopen at the instance of the State Government.
The ugly development mainly took place at the Baptist Secondary School along Surulere Road in the State capital. Same was the story in the other nine missions’ school that could not open on Wednesday.
Mrs. Mary Dupe Adeosun, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education had less than fifteen hours earlier announced the reopening of the shut schools but with a caveat that the controversial ‘hijab’ by Muslim female students must be worn.
The fight continued till late in the afternoon on Wednesday even with the presence of security agents drafted to the violent scene that they were unable to quell at the time of filing this report.
Earlier, upon hearing of the mayhem at the Surulere Baptist School, other Christians in the metropolis had mobilized themselves to reinforce their fellow faithful who were having a hot battle with Muslims.
Both sides were seen throwing dangerous missiles across the fence of the Baptist Church premises where the Secondary School was located.
By the afternoon, hoodlums had taken over the fight on the side of the Muslim not minding g the volume of tear gas canisters thrown by the Anti-Riot policemen before Christians said to be of other denominations joined apparently, as reinforcement.
There had been a lingering issue between Muslim Communities in the State particularly in Ilorin, the capital insisting that their wards; who were in Christian schools must among others observe their prayers, the Muslim way, have mosques in the mission schools while female Muslim students must wear ‘hijabs’.
Early on Wednesday, Christians had positioned themselves inside their school premises, ready to disallow ‘hijab’ wearing students to enter the schools. A development that ignited what later became bloody fights.
In the other schools, the protests by Christians to refuse hijab wearing was relatively peaceful because aside the fact that the schools’ gates were under lock and keys, Muslim students, particularly the females virtually stayed away.
The schools had been shut on the orders of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq when the refusal of the schools to allow students to wear hijabs sparked pockets of fights in some Christian schools allegedly occasioned by some Muslim youths who were not related to the schools.
The closures had attracted negative disposition of the Christian communities in and out the State, accusing the government of bias and a disregard to the norm of allowing a status-quo-ante because the matter was said to still be at the domain of Supreme Court of Nigeria.
Meanwhile, tensions remained soaked in the air while filing this report on Wednesday as what happens in days and time to come remained foggy and the combatants on both sides were wildly posing to fight.