Rights activist and the 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, has condemned the action of the Nigerian Army to close the Banex Plaza in Abuja.

Posting on his X account on Tuesday, Sowore said the act was a repression of the civilian spaces by soldiers, and that it should be stopped.

Recall that the Nigerian Army announced the closure of a popular electronic and telecommunications gadgets market in Abuja following the clash that broke out between some traders and soldiers on Saturday.

On Tuesday, the Army, however, said it shut the plaza following the assault of its unarmed men by some hoodlums in the market.

Giving an update on the issue, a statement issued by Director of Army Public Relations, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, on Tuesday, said, “Following the recent unrest at Banex Plaza in Wuse, Abuja, on Saturday 18 May 2024, by yet to be identified hoodlums who launched a brutal attack on some Nigerian Army personnel, a swift intervention by soldiers and policemen on internal security duties salvaged the situation and rescued the attacked personnel from being lynched by the hoodlums.

“It is important to note that the soldiers attacked were unarmed, did not engage in any form of aggression, and posed no threat to anyone. Therefore, the cruel treatment meted out to them was entirely unwarranted and unjustifiable.

“In response to this unfortunate incident, a meeting was convened with the management of Banex Plaza to identify and apprehend the perpetrators of this 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.”

Reacting to the statement, Sowore asked the army authorities to swiftly end the siege and order the soldiers to leave the civilian space. 

He said, “It is unheard of, even under military rule, that civilian spaces would be shut down in a business that employs thousands over a disagreement between soldiers and civilians.