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NIGERIAN CHILD AND PRIVACY: THE OPINION OF THE LAW CUM A CASE STUDY OF CCTV TAPE OF A GIRL CHILD ALLEGED TO BE MOLESTED BY BABA IJESHA RELEASED BY PUNCH.NGBy OLUWASEUN FATUDIMU RAPHAEL A child is considered as a gift from God to humans. In respect of this, different measures have been taken to protect and develop him legally, morally, educationally, religiously, among others.BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF RIGHTS OF THE CHILD It all started in 1924 when the founder of Save the Children Fund, Eglantyne Jebb drew out “Geneva Declaration on the Rights of the Child” which distinctly marked off that all people owe children the right to: economic freedom; priority of relief; protection from exploitation, inter alia and this was adopted by The League of Nations. Also, in 1946, UNICEF was established by the United Nation`s General Assembly as an emergency fund to children in every part of the world. In addition, on 10th December, 1948, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by UN and, Article 25 (2) of the law states:“Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All          children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection”In furtherance of the development of Child’s Rights, the United Nations (UN) designated the year, 1979 as the "International Year of the Child" and developed a list of Child's Rights. Also, in 1989, the United Nation's General Assembly passed "The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child". These have also brought the world's and Nigeria's attention to development and protection of the child. The Organization’s Secretary-General, in 2010 issues the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It should be noted that other different Conventions have been made to protect the Child.In the efforts of African countries to participate in the development of the rights of the child, the Organization of African Unity (now African Union), in 1990, adopted a charter on the Rights and welfare of the African child. In a bid to ensuring the development, protection and world awareness of child's Rights in Nigeria, Nigeria, through the Nigeria and Rights of The Child (1990) states that the Organization of African Unity in 1991 declares the 1990s as the DECADE OF THE AFRICAN CHILD. The document also announced that all children have rights against sale, abduction, drug abuse, all forms of exploitation including sexual exploitation, indecent or degrading treatment including torture, child labor, etc.WHO IS A CHILDAccording to Article 1 of the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) a child can be defined “…every human being below the age of eighteen years”. In Nigeria, the Child Right Act [2003] which is the statute that guide, regulate and protect children in Nigeria does not expressly define who a child is but by virtue of Section 21 of the Act, it can be reasonably assumed that a child in Nigeria is any person under the age 18. PRIVACY OF THE NIGERIAN CHILD Privacy, as defined by the Black’s Law Dictionary, 11th edition, is “The quality, state, or condition of being free from public attention to intrusion into or interference with one’s act or decisions”Under Article 16 of the aforementioned international law, the right to privacy of the Child is entrenched. It states as follows: Article16 [1]: “No child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attack of his or her honour and reputation”Artice16 (2) “The child has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks”                                 Accordingly, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended provides under section 34 that every individual has right to the dignity of human person. It says: "Every individual is entitled to respect for dignity of his person...”. This is also guaranteed for a child in Section 11 the Child Right Act (2003) which states that:"Every child is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person, and accordingly, no child shall beSubject to physical, mental, emotional injury, abuse, neglect or maltreatment including sexual abuse".It is in respect to this right to dignity of every child that the right to privacy of a child evolved as provided for in S.8 & S.205 of The Child Right Act (2003). These sections of the statute state, respectively;S.8: "Every child is entitled to his privacy, family life, home, correspondence..."S.205:	"The right of the child to privacy specified in section 8 of this Act shall be respected at all stages of child justice Administration in order to avoid harm being caused to the child by UNDUE PUBLICITY or BY PROCESS OF LABELING".Seeing therefore that every child in Nigeria has a right to privacy and this must be ensured by enforcing it alongside sanctions for those who do not comply, it cannot be underemphasized that every child adds unique value to our world, therefore, they must be protected and given freedom in order to make the world livable for them.In view of this analysis, the video publication by punch.ng in regards to the girl child being molested appears to be a breach or violation of her right to privacy. However, it's crystal clear that owing to the fact that the identity of the child was blurred and consequently not revealed, punch.ng did not therefore infringe on the right of the girl and consequently not liable to be punished.The writer concludes thus that the release of the video might have had an emotional and mental effect on the child and this might cause grievous psychological harm to the girl but solace is found in the fact that her identity was not revealed.