The Christian Association of Nigeria has insisted that Christian pupils will continue to wear church robes and other apparel to public schools as long as Muslim students are not prevented from wearing hijab.
Also, some students of the Baptist High School, Iwo, who appeared in the school in church garments on Tuesday, repeated their mode of dressing on Wednesday despite the threat by Governor Rauf Aregbesola that any student caught would be expelled.
Aregbesola had, on Tuesday, threatened to expel any student caught wearing church garments or other unauthorised garments to school.
The governor said it was wrong of any group or organisation to instruct pupils to violate laid down rules.
But the Vice-Chairman of CAN in the state, Pastor Moses Ogundeji, said in an interview with journalists at the venue of a prayer session organised by CAN that Christians would not be cowed by the threat of the governor.
He said Christians were peace-loving people but would not allow anybody to trample on their rights and oppress them.
“The governor should be ready to expel all students in the state. He should be ready to expel those wearing hijab because hijab was never part of the school uniform.
“If the governor is fighting for the rights of the Muslims, we will also fight for the rights of the Christians,” the cleric stated.
Ogundeji added that Christians would take over the sponsorship of any students expelled for wearing church garments to schools.
The CAN chairman stated that Christians would not stop wearing church apparel as long as those wearing hijab were not prevented from doing so in schools established by Christian missionaries.
The Secretary of CAN in Osun State, Apostle Joseph Olaide, also said while addressing the gathering that Christian students could not be stopped from wearing church garments to schools.
He said CAN should be notified if security men arrested any of the pupils, saying the leadership would take the case up.
The heavy presence of security men at the Osun Baptist Conference convention ground in Osogbo, where the meeting was held, almost scuttled the meeting.
Seven police patrol vans and two vans, belonging to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, with scores of armed men were at the gate of the school where the convention ground is located.
Some policemen combed the bushes surrounding the venue of the convention even as it continued to rain.
One of the clerics told our correspondent that the security men had informed them that they were there because of an intelligence report that some hoodlums had planned to attack the gathering.
Meanwhile, the timely arrival of the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, at the Baptist High School, Iwo, averted crisis in the school as members of CAN in Iwo insisted that Christian pupils, who wore church garment to the school, should be allowed into the institution.
It was gathered that the students appeared in white garments and choir robes while members of the Christian body in Iwo were also in the school to ensure that the students in robes were not harassed.
One of the leaders of the CAN in the town, Mr. Paul Olagoke, told our correspondent on the telephone that some Christian students wore their church garments to the school.
Olagoke added, “We went to the school again to make sure that our children are not harassed. We were in the school and some Muslims also came. They (Muslims) thought we wanted to prevent their children from wearing hijab.
“That is not our business but as long as they are allowed to wear hijab, Christian children will continue to wear anything they like to schools.
“The police and some other security agents were there but we made sure that we saw that our children, who chose to wear church garments to the school, were not molested until we left the school and followed the Oluwo to his palace where he addressed us.”
(Punch)
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