Kwara State on Friday directed an immediate, but temporary closure of some grant-aided schools in Ilorin pending the resolution of a Hijab controversy.
Kemi Adeosun, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development, said this in a statement on Friday.
The affected schools are the Cherubim and Seraphim College, Sabo Oke and St. Anthony College, Offa Road.
Others are the ECWA School, Oja Iya; Surulere Baptist Secondary School; and Bishop Smith Secondary School, Agba Dam.
Also affected are the CAC Secondary School, Asa Dam; St. Barnabas Secondary School, Sabo Oke; St. John School, Maraba; St. Williams Secondary School, Taiwo Isale; and St. James Secondary School, Maraba.
Adeosun said: The closure comes as a government committee comprising representatives of the Muslim and Christian communities meets on Friday to iron out the differences between the two religious communities.
“Government calls for calm and urges parents and religious leaders to avoid actions or comments that may further split the two communities.”
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the ban on the use of Hijab in some missionary secondary schools in Kwara State has dominated public discourse in the state lately.
With the lockout of some students wearing Hijab in affected schools, the discourse has been generating controversies and heated debates.