The police in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Saturday deployed its personnel to the popular Banex Market in Wuse district to forestall a crisis after a group of suspected thugs attacked soldiers in uniform at the area.
Traders in the area were said to have hurriedly locked up their shops as the crisis brewed
Videos shared by eyewitnesses showed there was a disagreement between the soldiers and unidentified individuals
which later escalated into fisticuffs.
The Guardian cannot immediately verify what led to the disagreement.
The young men later divided into three groups and attacked their targets. A man dressed in mufti was also attacked by the mob, but it is unclear whether he is a soldier.
An armed mobile policeman, however, intervened to restore order, but the thugs ignored him and kept hitting their targets, one of the videos showed.
In another video, traders were seen locking up their shops to apparently prevent being affected in a reprisal.
However, the FCT command spokeswoman, SP Josephine Adeh, allayed the fears of the traders in a statement, stating that the Commissioner of Police, Benett Igweh has deployed officers of the FCT Intelligence Response Team to the scene of the incident.
“The CP has deployed the Intelligence Response Team to the scene,” Adeh confirmed.
Meanwhile, the Defence Headquarters and the spokesperson for the Nigerian Army, Onyema Nwachukwu, have not issued any statements regarding this incident.
