A pro-democracy non-governmental organisation has described as speculative and unscientific, the fire which engulfed a section of the Sabon-Gari, Kano market, and tasked the state government to uncover the circumstances that led to the early morning inferno in the mostly southern-dominated business district in the northern commercial capital. It condemned the hastily-packaged media report, which attributed the cause of the inferno to mysterious sources.

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), which stated this in a media statement, rejected the striking coincidence of the sudden inferno at the Kano market dominated by traders from the south, at a time that rumours of torching a segment of Onitsha mosque were making the rounds in the social media, which turned out to be false. This, the group noted, makes it imperative that a probe is carried out to determine the exact causes of the fire outbreak, with the hope of putting measures in place to forestall future fire occurrences.

Similarly, the group also called for a full investigation into the causes of the fire incident at a girls’ (boarding) high school in Kano State few days back which, unfortunately, led to loss of lives and destruction of property. It commended the state government for the prompt decision to rebuild the lost property in the school, while reminding the government of its obligation to protect the lives and property of citizens resident in the state and, therefore, should consider paying compensation to the victims of the two fire incidents.

In the statement signed jointly by the National Co-ordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and HURIWA National Media Affairs Director, Miss Zainab Yusuf, averred: “It’s impossible for a fire incident to have happened mysteriously since scientifically there can’t be a fire incident without a practical cause. Attributing the cause of the Kano market fire to some mysterious causes, as presented by some media reports is, to say the least, unfortunate and highly speculative.

“We believe that the fire that gutted over 50 shops at the popular ‘Sabon Gari’ market in Kano metropolis, Kano State, must have a sinister foundation; given the sinister coincidence of the time it happened, barely few hours after some false reports spread of a fire incident near the Onitsha Central Mosque, which happened on the day armed military and police operatives used violence to quell the otherwise largely peaceful protests by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, demanding the unconditional release of their founder, Mr Nnamdi Kanu.”

HURIWA recalled that reporters on ground had filed a report claiming that an overwhelming fire continuously razed shops and anything on its way, while fire fighters were doing everything possible to quench it. The group then wondered how anyone can just dismiss the cause of this clearly monumental inferno to some mysterious causes.

“Government is obliged to protect the lives of citizens residing and engaging in legitimate businesses. Let the causes of that inferno be uncovered so that those responsible could be prosecuted to prevent recurrence.”

•Photo shows Comrade Onwubiko.

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