The Unlawful Closure of Banex Plaza in Abuja

The Nigerian Army has again demonstrated its utter disregard for the rule of law in a constitutional democracy with its recent audacious closure of Banex Plaza in Abuja.

A free-for-all broke out between some military personnel and some traders at the popular electronics and ICT market penultimate Saturday.

Confirming the development, the FCT Police Command, in a statement by its spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, said: “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 the discovery that the phone was faulty, which met the resistance of the shop owner.”

This development, she added, led some irate mobs to attack the military personnel.

“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, Benneth Igweh, urges residents to peacefully go about their lawful businesses without fear from any quarters,” Adeh added.

But despite the intervention of the police authorities, which are the only constitutional authorities empowered to handle such a case, personnel of the Nigerian Army took laws into their hands and stormed the Plaza, beating passersby and guards in a brutal show-of-force against unarmed civilians.

In the army’s characteristic manner of being the accuser and the judge in its own case, its spokesperson, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu exonerated its personnel, and announced the shutdown of the plaza on Tuesday, after military personnel had apparently intimidated the traders to submission.

In a democracy, such incidents are supposed to be investigated by the police who would then prosecute those found culpable.

If the military authorities considered the plaza a security threat, they should have approached the civil authorities such as the Abuja Municipal Council Area, which could have announced the shutdown.

Without a court order or the order of civil authorities, the army shut down the plaza and claimed to be leading an investigation on the own case.

This is impunity taken too far and a threat to democracy, rule of law and the civilian population.

The Nigerian Army usurped the functions of the police and the judiciary by closing the market.