Founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo, has criticised calls by some Muslim groups for female students in Christian mission schools to be permitted to wear the hijab.
Speaking during a church service, Oyedepo described the demand as “overstepping boundaries,” likening it to “a tenant decreeing for the landlord.” He maintained that mission schools should uphold their founding principles and advised proponents of hijab use to establish their own institutions where such dress codes can apply.
“Leave the schools for the owners. Go to your school; men and women can wear hijab there. Stop putting your finger in the eyes of others when they are not blind,” he said, as quoted by Eyes of Lagos.
He warned against what he called “harassment of the church in Nigeria,” cautioning that such actions could provoke divine judgment, and stressed that “God is a consuming fire.”
The cleric also prayed against crimes such as ritual killings, kidnapping, and the destruction of farmland, calling for God’s judgment on perpetrators.
The hijab issue has been a recurring source of tension in states such as Kwara, where Muslim groups and church authorities have clashed over dress codes in mission schools that existed before government takeovers. Oyedepo urged Christians to remain resolute in defending their faith and resisting policies or demands that undermine church values.
