Some traders at the popular electronics hub, Banex Plaza in Wuse 2, FCT Abuja have revealed why the plaza popular for the sale of phones and other electronics was shut down by the Nigerian Army.

The Nigerian Army announced the closure of Banex Plaza in Abuja on Tuesday, May 22, 2024, saying it was based on an agreement between it and the management of the Plaza.

Director of Army Information, Onyema Nwachukwu, a major general, announced the move which has now raised concerns about the army’s role in a democracy.

Nwachukwu said the decision was in furtherance of efforts to identify individuals who recently assaulted two soldiers, leading a clash involving Army personnel and traders at the Plaza on Saturday, May 18, 2024.

Viral videos making rounds on the internet since the day of the clash, shows two soldiers dressed in their uniforms being punched and harassed by civilians at the plaza while the military personnel tried to wriggle themselves out of the situation.

The incident triggered reprisals from the Army as a group of soldiers later invaded the plaza where they assaulted some civilians.

In an interview with Kristina Reports, a trader, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, explained that the soldiers came to return a faulty phone which was sold to them and were met by an angry mob that attacked them.

He explained that the soldiers did not retaliate but only struggled to be free of the mob and the policemen that were called to the scene to salvage the situation did little or nothing to rescue them.

“I was standing on the balcony when I noticed that there was trouble downstairs, when I asked around they said some soldiers came to change a phone and the guys that sold it to them refused to swap it.”

“The next thing that happened was that a lot of people gathered and started beating them and throwing things at them. Police came after some time but maybe they were still scared of the mob so they did not do so much till one of the soldiers tried to escape them they stepped in.”

Since Monday, soldiers have been seen standing at the entrance of the shopping complex, preventing traders from gaining access to the plaza and no commercial activity has taken place since Sunday.

Uche Okafor who was found loitering close to Banex this morning spoke to Kristina reports complained bitterly that his laptop which is his source of income has been locked into the plaza for days causing him to take an unwarranted break from work.

He said that he took the laptop to Banex on Saturday morning and was supposed to pick it up in the evening but couldn’t because of the clash and since then has not had access to the plaza.

‘My laptop had been giving me issues for some time, it was not even totally bad, I just wanted it to work better. I took it to Banex in the morning that Saturday and the guy told me to come back in the evening, next thing I saw trending was that there was a problem at Banex.

“I came but I could not enter because they were still fighting in front of the place. I thought that it was going to blow over but it has been days and I still cannot access it, it is a big problem for me. Something needs to be done.”

Neither the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja nor the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) have made a statement on the matter as at the time of this report.