Anita Ogona
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has said that the military personnel who were involved in Saturday’s clash between some soldiers and customers at New Banex Plaza in Abuja have been handed over to the Nigerian Army for necessary sanctions.
The FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh, who made this known in a statement said the police had addressed the situation and restored normalcy to the area.
Personnel of the Nigerian Army Corps of Military Police on Saturday evening reportedly stormed Banex Plaza in Abuja and beat up passersby and security guards.
The assault on civilians was said to be a reprisal for an earlier free-for-all that broke out between four military police personnel and some traders at the popular electronics and telecommunications gadget market earlier on Saturday.
The soldiers’ attacks on civilians and show-of-force by the military police came a few hours after the FCT Commissioner of Police, Bennet Igweh, settled the scuffle between the soldiers and the traders at the police command.
The FCT police spokesperson in the statement said, “Following a reported unrest at Bannex Plaza today being May 18, 2024 at about 01:30 PM, involving some occupants of the plaza, customers and some soldiers, operatives of the FCT police command, swiftly mobilized to scene, assessed situation and restored order.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that one Suleiman Ahmed who had earlier gotten a phone from one Suleiman Ibrahim, a shop owner at New Bannex, went with four soldiers to persuade the seller for replacement upon discovery that the phone is faulty, which met the resistance of the shop owner.
“This action resulted in a confrontation and squabble with the military personnel. This development led some irate mobs to attack the military personnel which led to an uproar in the environ.
“All parties were invited for questioning, the military personnel have been handed over to their organisation for necessary action to be taken.
“While normalcy has since been restored in Bannex and its environs, the Commissioner of Police FCT, CP Benneth Igweh, urges residents to peacefully go about their lawful businesses without fear from any quarters.”
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