MILITARY BOWS TO PRESSURE, REOPENS BANEX PLAZA

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MILITARY BOWS TO PRESSURE, REOPENS BANEX PLAZA

After over a week siege on the popular Banex Plaza in Wuse 2 area of Abuja, the military has reopened the market for business.

A correspondent who visited the market on Monday evening learnt that the plaza resumed operations around 2:30pm.

Recall that the market was sealed by military authorities on May 18, following a violent clash between traders and military personnel.

Trouble started when thugs beat up some soldiers who had a disagreement with a trader in the plaza.

The trader had reportedly sold a bad phone to someone who invited soldiers. Rather than resolve the issue amicably, the trader reportedly invited thugs who assaulted the uniform men.

They descended on at least two soldiers and another man in mufti. The thugs who broke into groups slapped, kicked and beat up the soldiers.

Although the police stepped in to resolve the situation, soldiers later stormed the plaza, forcing traders to shut down immediately.

Human rights activists, including Femi Falana, SAN, Civil Society Organisations, among others had condemned the military action.

They had said while what the trader involved did was bad, shutting down of the entire business place was not solution.But the army said the market would remain temporarily closed until those behind the attacks were fished out.

  • Dons Eze

    DONS EZE, PhD, Political Philosopher and Journalist of over four decades standing, worked in several newspaper houses across the country, and rose to the positions of Editor and General Manager. A UNESCO Fellow in Journalism, Dr. Dons Eze, a prolific writer and author of many books, attended several courses on Journalism and Communication in both Nigeria and overseas, including a Postgraduate Course on Journalism at Warsaw, Poland; Strategic Communication and Practical Communication Approach at RIPA International, London, the United Kingdom, among others.

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