EDITORIAL: Nigerian Police And The Girl In Ebeano Supermarket Fire

From 17th July 2021 Nigerian social media sphere trended a video ‘news’ of a nine-year-old girl setting Ebeano Supermarket in Lokogoma, a suburb of Abuja, on fire.

In the video shared many times on Whatsapp, Facebook, and other platforms, the girl was shown igniting fire on one of the shelves containing flammable materials in the supermarket hall. The video, which was said to be from the supermarket’s CCTV camera, showed how the fire slowly started and later consumed a large part of the store and the commotion that it later generated at the scene.

To add a twist to the saga, the same girl was later depicted in the video making statements to the Police about the inferno where she was alleged to have ‘confessed’ razing the supermarket. Expectedly, the issue became ‘talk of the town,’ a trending matter in all parts of the country.

The conventional media – Radio, TV, newspapers, magazines – not to be left out, also feasted on the story with one national newspaper on its web platform captioning the story, ‘9-year-old evil girl set ablaze Abuja supermarket: Caught on CCTV’. The newspaper followed the headline with the news and image of the girl captioned, ‘Face of the devil 9-year-old girl who set ablaze Ebeano Supermarket in Abuja’.

Overall, except for a few exceptions, discourse on the issue was negative as the metadata currently online show.

However, what is more, worrying in the story is the role of the Nigeria Police who are supposed to be neutral, cautious and professional despite the evidence they have gathered on the case.

First, it ought not to have been released to the public the video of the CCTV and that of the interrogation. By so doing, the subject was put on trial by social media where people had already ‘judged’ the 9-year-old girl guilty.

This is notwithstanding the fact that the minor until proven guilty, was presumed innocent in the eyes of the law, and therefore undeserving of harsh treatment.

Should the girl be found innocent or not even subjected to trial in the final analysis, one can imagine the stigma she will have to live with.
This is, indeed, worrisome.

Secondly, based on the shared video evidence, it is yet to be proven that the 9- year-old girl was interacted with by the police in the presence of a lawyer or legal aid counsel.

The third dimension is that the girl should have been first referred to a qualified psychologist to establish her psychological state, which can help in unravelling the motive and circumstances of the girl’s behaviour.

Prime Business Africa believes that the Police should have done better in its treatment of the young girl. This case came as the Nigeria Police Act, 2020 was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The act emphasised what police ought to have done to the root of the issue; interrogating her in the presence of her lawyer, the right of the girl to remain silent if she so wishes; amongst others.

The police is also expected to comply with and enforce other legislations that have to do with the rights of children and minors, rights of accused people,, laws of evidence, amongst others.

Prime Business Africa believes that, for the Police to succeed in its responsibilities, it must respect and comply with laws of the country relevant to its activities.

Respect to the law can give the Police more leverage in law enforcement and crime prevention. The police must always be guardians of the law, the protector of citizens (whether accused or not).

At this juncture, the treatment meted to the nine-year-old girl by the Police clearly shows the need for law enforcement agents to reactivate the child-right and protection mechanism to help children and youths, who are the future of the country, in their dealings with the police.

Perhaps, the corollary to the now-forgotten Ebeano Supermarket fire would be the need for proactive response to the growing arson cases in the country.

Prime Business Africa calls on national and subnational governments to be more intentional in preventing and responding to cases of arson, which has become rampant in recent years.

For instance, official records show that Niger State alone sustained a loss of over N1.2 billion from 196 fire outbreaks in the first quarter of this year alone.

Controller of the Niger State Fire Service (NSFS), Alhaji Bello Salihu, on May 20, 2021, cried out on the matter, announcing over 300 fire outbreaks in the past.

In the usual fashion, what has become of the case is now a matter of conjecture.
But there is no gainsaying that fact that Nigerian children deserve a better deal from the Police and the society at large, especially now that the country is grappling with security challenges.