25th June, 2022
PRESS
RELEASE:
MURIC TO OMIRHOBO: WEAR YOUR TRADITIONAL ATTIRE TO
COURT EVERYDAY
A lawyer, Malcolm Omirhobo, yesterday appeared at
the Supreme Court dressed like a traditional doctor. Mr. Omirhobo claimed that
he was reacting to the Supreme Court judgement on hijab of Friday, 17th
June, 2022. Meanwhile an Islamic human rights organization, the Muslim Rights
Concern (MURIC), has said the lawyer’s behaviour is not only contemptuous of
the Supreme Court pronouncement but also provocative, condescending and irreconcilable
with the noble profession of law.
MURIC’s position was contained in a statement
issued on Saturday, 25th June, 2022 by its director, Professor Ishaq
Akintola.
The full statement reads :
“A lawyer, Malcolm Omirhobo, yesterday appeared at
the Supreme Court dressed like a traditional priest (https://www.blueprint.ng/video-moment-human-rights-lawyer-caused-stir-at-supreme-court/,
https://barristerng.com/breaking-supreme-court-forced-into-recces-as-lawyer-malcolm-omirhobo-appears-in-court-wearing-juju-priest-attire-to-protest-hijab-approval/).
“Mr. Omirhobo claimed that he was reacting to the
Supreme Court judgement on hijab of Friday, 17th June, 2022 which approved
the wearing of hijab to school by female Muslim students.
“Going by his personal record, we are not in any way
taken aback by what Omirhobo did yesterday. The lawyer has exhibited
pathological hatred for Muslims, their religion and the language of their faith
in the past.
“Was it not the same
Omirhobo who went to court over the existence of Arabic letters on naira notes?
He did not stop there. He challenged the use of Arabic on army logo. He also
sued the Nigerian Police for approving hijab for police women in Nigeria.
“Omirhobo has behaved to type. If he has his way,
he would have every single Muslim Shugabad out of Nigeria. He hates the sight
of Muslims, their Qur’an and the language of that Holy Book, Arabic. His hatred
reached boiling point when the highest court in the land approved the use of
hijab for female students.
“This pushed him to the extreme behaviour which
millions of Nigerians saw him manifesting on television yesterday. Instead of
licking his wounds privately and gently after the court gave victory to the
Muslims, he took his anger and frustration to the Supreme Court.
“Omirhobo’s hocus-pocus
is not only contemptuous of the Supreme Court pronouncement but also
provocative, condescending and irreconcilable with the noble profession of law.
It is bigotry fanned by the embers of hatred. Instead of bowing to the rule of
law, this lawyer sought to make a mockery of the judgement of the highest court
in the land. He challenged the rule of law. It was reckless, lawless and unethical.
“MURIC calls the
attention of respected unions and authorities in the legal profession like the
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the Body of Benchers, etc to the behaviour of
Omirhobo. If this goes unnoticed, it should not go unpunished. If this goes
unnoticed and unpunished, then there is no hope left for the hoi polloi and law
abiding citizens in the Nigerian judiciary.
“Whereas some miscreants hide under the canopy of
Islam to kill, maim and destroy properties, young Muslim students in South
Western Nigeria have tolerated insults, abuses, intimidation, coercion and even
corporal punishment without raising a single finger, not even once.
“All these because they demanded their Allah-given
fundamental human right and their civil liberty to wear hijab as enshrined in
Section 38(i) & (ii) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria. They patiently exhibited forbearance of the humiliation for more than sixty
years.
“Instead of holding demonstrations and disturbing
the flow of traffic, instead of towing the path of violence, they elected to
follow the path of litigation. The journey in the law courts have lasted about
nine years but these children waited patiently until the highest court in the
land made its supreme pronouncement.
“Alas who did we
find mocking the judgement? Who did we find rebelling against the wisdom of the
highest court of the land? A learned, a robed lawyer in voodoo garb! If this is
not the height of impunity, then we do not know what else to call it. We will
be shocked to our marrows if the relevant authorities do nothing about this. It
will be an invitation to lawlessness if Omirhobo is allowed to get away with
this.
“We have no
doubt, however, that this attempt to ridicule the judgement of the Supreme
Court on hijab will fail. What happened to all the gymnastic namby-pamby and
articulated razzle-dazzle that followed the approval
of hijab by an Oshogbo high court years ago?
“The Christian
Association of Nigeria (CAN) instructed Christian students to wear Sango,
Obatala, masquerade, church choir garments, etc to school and they actually
did. But MURIC told them at that time that it would not last. We said they
would soon get tired of it. Well, did it last? Yet hijab is still being worn by
female Muslim students in Osun State today without being challenged. So we know
where Omirhobo’s acrobatic razzmatazz is coming from. He has failed already. Divine
truth will always overwhelm social truth.
“To Chief Malcolm Omirhobo, MURIC has this to say, ‘Your
dramatic abracadabra will fail unless there is another court above the Supreme
Court. We will defeat you with our decency and discipline. We will defeat you
with exchange of love for your hatred.
“‘Chief Omirhobo, we love you. But the issue
remains whether or not you love yourself. If indeed you love yourself, accept
the Supreme Court judgement on hijab in good faith. Stop desecrating the much reverred
law profession. Those of us who are not learned should not be the ones teaching
you to respect the rule of law.
“‘If you so wish, continue
to wear your Babalawo lawyer dress to court everyday. Wear it everywhere (to
the supermarket, hairdresser’s shop, petrol station, etc) the same way Muslim
women have been wearing their own hijab’ and see the reaction of your personal
friends. A word is enough for the wise.’”
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern,
(MURIC)
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