By Correspondent in Ilorin.
The Kwara State Police Command says it has successfully restored peace in Ijagbo community and its environs with its men on ground to ensure that no further break down of law and order is allowed in the area, following the break down of law and order over wearing of hijab in schools in the area, a contending development between muslims and christians in the state.
The Commissioner of Police in the state,CP Tuesday Assayomo, disclosed this on Thursday in Ilorin in a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for the Police Command in the state, SP Ajayi Okasami, a copy of which was made available to The Reporters.
The Police Commissioner said the Command’s Tactical units and conventional police men had been deployed to Ijagbo, adding that the state government delegation had gone to Ijagbo to find lasting solution to the crisis
Assayomo appealed to the warring parties to embrace peace and shun any act that could jeopardize the current peace in the area, warning however that any one found, in any way, truncating the hard earned peace in the State would be made to face the full wrath of the law, please.
Citing account of the crisis, the police boss said,” One person has been reported killed and many sustained varying degrees of injury on Thursday at the Oyun Baptist High School (OBHS), Ijagbo, Oyun Local Governnent Area of Kwara state, as peaceful protest over use of hijab in the school turned violent.”
Sources told The Reporters that trouble started on Thursday when some Muslim parents, led by the Grand Muftee of Yorubaland, Ameer Taawun staged a peaceful protest to the school premises over the purported rejection of their wards and members of the Islamic faith for wearing hijab.
One of the sources, who was on the spot during the protest, said that the situation was initially peaceful until some of the protesters allegedly sustained machete cuts.
“This triggered angry reaction from the protesting Muslim parents who looked around for various weapons to protect themselves, just as the police and civil defence quickly swung into action to dispatch them.
“The police shot into the air and also used teargas to dispatch the protesters to put the situation under control to put the situation under ccontrol,” the source said.
We gathered that due to the crisis, the state government directed immediate closure of the school, pending resolution of the issue and described the developmnt as “totally unacceptable.”
In a statement by the commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Hajia Sa’adatu Modibbo Kawu, the state government also condemned “the flagrant act of discrimination against anyone, especially children, on religious ground”, adding that such discrimination would not be tolerated in any public-owned institution in the state.
The educatuon commissioner,who said that the state government and security agencies continued to work with leaders on all sides in the matter, while the school remained close with immediate effect, commended security agencies for prompt action that restored calm in the area.
Modibbo kawu called on them to investigate and bring to book, anyone linked to the violence to serve as deterrence to others, reminding the warring parties that “violence brings nothing good.”
The online publication recalls that the state government had on Tuesday, January 25, 2022, restated its policy and directed management of schools in the state to allow the use of Hijab and beret by willing students without forcing it on anyone or turning them back for using them.
A government delegation, led by Commissioner for Education, Hajia Sa’adatu Modibbo Kawu had earlier visited the school on two different occasions to resolve the matter, followed by that of Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Arc. Mohammed Saifudeen, who also visited the town,for the same reason.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.