There was palpable anxiety in College of Nursing and Midwifery, Yola, recently resulting from an alleged attempt by the school management to deny some Muslim female students from wearing the hijab in the institution.

The allegation attracted petitions against the Provost of the College, Dr. Lami Aminu, from the school’s branch of Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN).

In the petition, the body claimed that the school authorities had harassed, intimidated and, in some cases, confiscated hijabs from students.

The Daily Times, which obtained a copy of the petition, visited the college to get to the root of the matter.

At the college, it was gathered that there is an existing medical and nurses’ professional dress code as provided for through a circular from the national secretariat of the National Association of Nurses and Midwives of Nigeria (NANMN), which approved a dress code.

The code is being adopted across the country –a code which the Adamawa State College of Nursing and Midwifery fully complied with.

However, according to investigations, some female students suddenly started wearing a long black hijab which covered the original shoulder length earlier approved by the national secretariat.

The Daily Times discovered that, in an attempt to ensure strict general compliance to the professional dress code, the institution got tough on compliance, with a section of the students and part of the campus community, described as fundamentalist in attitude, kicking against the institution’s stance on the matter, resulting in near breakdown of law and order.

A spokesperson of the Muslim female students and Amirah of the college branch of MSSN, Hussaini Yusufu, told The Daily Times in an interview that the wearing of hijab was never banned in the college.

The disagreement, she said, resulted from the additional long veil on the shoulder length, insisting that the college management, students as well as the Muslim community in the college should have amicably handled the matter.

The Amirah, however, appealed for calm on the side of the students but advised the school authorities to be cautious in approaching the issue in view of its potentially incendiary nature.

Trouble had started when a representative of parents of Muslim students of the college, Idris Hamza, wrote a letter to Muslim bodies informing them of “sanctions against the use of khimar by Muslim female students.” Khimar is a type of full head gear donned by Muslim women.

Hamza’s letter was written to MSSN, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’ah Wa Iqamatus Sunnah (Society of Removal of Innovation and Re-establishment of the Sunnah) also known as JIBWIS, Muslim Council, and others.

In it, he claimed that the college authorities had stationed security personnel at the school gate stopping Muslim students who were attired in khimar.

According to him, the affected students were being treated with scorn, claiming further that the “anti-Islamic regime in the college” was making life rough for adherents.

Worse still, his claims were projected by different interest groups on social media, instantly triggering tension within and outside the college.