Women In Kano Abandon Religious Dressing Saying:‘ Any Woman In Hijab Is Now Seen As A Potential Suicide Bomber’

Kano was hit last month by four separate attacks involving teenage girls in hijabs, leaving nine people dead and scores more injured

Following the recent suicide bombings by young girls armed with explosives in dressed in hijab, women in northern part of the country, Kano, are abandoning their traditional religious dresses.

Kano was hit last month by four separate attacks involving teenage girls in hijabs, leaving nine people dead and scores more injured.

No responsibility has been claimed for the bombings but the terrorist sect, Boko Haram, have been blamed for these attacks which has put great fear and suspicion on young women wearing such clothes, prompting them to dress differently.

“I no longer wear my hijab because people now see any young woman in hijab as a potential suicide bomber because of the recent incidents,” said 17-year old Hajara Musa.

“I now put on my shawl (headscarf) when I go out pending the time the city gets over the trauma of this frightening trend,” the fashion design apprentice told AFP.

A young woman, Musa, said she was recently barred from entering a shopping mall while dressed in a hijab, which covers the hair, neck and upper body, despite agreeing to be frisked.

“I was turned away because of my hijab, which I found very disturbing,” she added.

21-year-old Adama Habibu, a student at Kano State Polytechnic, where a suicide blast on July 30 killed six people and injured 20 others, said she preferred to wear the hijab but the recent bombings had forced her to stop to avoid attracting unnecessary attention: “Wherever a young woman in hijab goes people keep their distance from her out of fear she could be a suicide bomber.”