Commotion as Thugs beat up soldiers at Banex market in Abuja

There was commotion at the popular Banex Market in Wuse, Abuja, on Saturday when suspected thugs descended on soldiers in uniform.

The cause of the incident was unknown but a trader in the market told Daily Trust that the soldiers were attacked after a disagreement with some persons in the market.

“I am not currently in the market but I called my boys at the shop and they told me there was a disagreement between some boy and soldiers,” he said.

In a video of the incident seen by our correspondent, a group of young men were seen arguing with two soldiers.

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The young men later broke into groups of three, attacking their targets fiercely.

A man seen in mufti was also attacked by the mob, but it is unclear if he is also a soldier.

An armed mobile policeman had immediately waded in to restore normalcy but the thugs ignored him and kept hitting their targets.

In another video, traders were seen locking up their shops to apparently prevent being affected in a reprisal.

The military authorities have not commented on the incident at the time of filing this report.

Efforts to reach Josephine Adeh, spokesperson of the Federal Capital Territory Police Command, did not yield result at the time of filing this report as multiple calls to her line were unanswered.

The military usually frowns at attacks on its men. Two months ago, a major operation was launched in Okuama, a community in Delta, where soldiers on peace mission were killed.