Some traders, yesterday, lamented the continued lock down of Banex Plaza, an electronics and telecommunications gadgets market in Abuja, for over 48 hours.
The action was allegedly carried out by armed operatives from the Nigerian Army.
Some traders who assembled at a distance from the plaza were seen leaving after having waited for hours. They were heard lamenting the cost implication of having the plaza shut on a major day like Monday.
Trouble started when thugs beat up some soldiers who had a minor disagreement with a trader in the plaza.
The trader reportedly sold a bad phone to someone who, in turn, invited soldiers. Rather than resolve the issue amicably, the trader reportedly invited thugs who assaulted the uniformed men. They descended on, at least, two soldiers and another man in mufti.
Although the police stepped in to resolve the situation, some soldiers later stormed the plaza, forcing traders to shut down immediately. Some videos on social media showed soldiers chasing a crowd of people. Some troops also patrolled the plaza in Wuse 2, Abuja, in their vans.
The army has been silent on the development; its spokesman, Onyema Nwachukwu, has not made any official comment as of the time of filing this report.
However, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), through its national coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, said: “If hoodlums or even one or few traders have a disagreement that resulted into a scuffle with a soldier or two soldiers, why should armed troops be deployed to Banex plaza extra-judicially to harass, intimidate and discourage traders from going about their businesses?
Why should the Nigerian Army permit a primitive resort to self help?
“We urge the traders to sue the Chief of Army Staff in a competent court of law immediately and claim damages of N1 billion because soldiers unlawfully blocked legitimate business operators from operating their legitimate businesses just because one or two soldiers were beaten up by some rascals.”
