The Nigerian Army has finally spoken out about the recent altercation between soldiers and civilians at Banex Plaza in Abuja’s Wuse district, which occurred on Saturday, May 18, 2024.
According to Army spokesman Maj Gen Onyema Nwachukwu, the plaza was closed temporarily to investigate the “cruel treatment” of unarmed soldiers by some individuals at the trade plaza.
Nwachukwu Army condemned the attack on its personnel, describing it as “entirely unwarranted and unjustifiable.”
The incident reportedly began as a dispute over a phone issue between three soldiers and a trader, which escalated into a physical altercation.
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It was said that the trader alleged that the phone dealers overpowered the soldiers and a civilian.
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According to the police, the dispute started when Suleiman Ahmed purchased a faulty phone from Suleiman Ibrahim, a shop owner at Banex Plaza.
Suleiman Ahmed returned with four soldiers to request a replacement, but the shop owner resisted.
Nwachukwu said:
“Meeting was convened with the management of Banex Plaza to identify and apprehend the perpetrators of the heinous act by temporarily shutting down activities in the plaza to ensure that the hoodlums who have been using the Banex neighborhood as a sanctuary to pose a security threat to the Federal Capital Territory were apprehended.
“This, is in furtherance of the need for extensive investigation to be conducted at the scene to determine both the immediate and underlying causes of this mayhem.
“This investigation ultimately aims at ensuring the security of the Federal Capital Territory and to prevent such unwarranted attacks on own personnel and other security operatives, as has been observed in other areas, such as the unfortunate attack in Okuama.”
