The military has withdrawn soldiers who were deployed to Banex Plaza at Wuse 2, Abuja, one week ago following attacks on soldiers who had taken a faulty phone back to a shop where the phone was bought.
The military had taken over the plaza since the attack on its personnel by civilians on Saturday, May 18, 2024.
The intervention of the FCT Police Command with the deployment of its intelligence team had prevented the situation from degenerating further, resulting in shop owners and other traders closing shops early on that Saturday.
Angry soldiers later stormed the plaza, forcing traders to shut down immediately.
As a result of the incident, which occurred on May 18, 2024, the military deployed military police personnel to fish out the hoodlums who acted in concert with the electronics and GSM market sellers during the manhandling of the soldiers.
However, on Monday, at 2 p.m., Banex Plaza was reopened for business as customers and the public were seen moving in and out of the market without any restriction, while the military vehicles positioned at strategic areas of the market had been withdrawn.
Some civil society organizations thereafter condemned the forceful closure of the market and deployment of soldiers to cordon it off.
While acknowledging the wrongdoing of traders and hoodlums in attacking uniformed soldiers, they emphasized that shutting down the entire market was not the solution.
