Banex Plaza closure: HURIWA cautions against misusing military troops

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has accused Nigeria’s top military commanders of misusing their troops by illegally cordoning off Banex Plaza, a massive business premises that employs over 10,000 Nigerian households.

HURIWA frowned at the deployment of soldiers for personal or individual reasons rather than their core duty of national security.

It condemned cordoning off business premises because a few soldiers had a physical confrontation with street urchins loitering around the plaza.

HURIWA also chided the National Assembly leadership, especially the committees on the Armed Forces, for dereliction of duties by failing to thoroughly investigate the illegal deployment of soldiers to pursue frivolous objectives.

“Instead, they should deploy armed troops to clinically wage massive warfare against hundreds of thousands of armed non-state actors and terrorists who are roaming around everywhere, including the Federal Capital Territory, kidnapping citizens, killing citizens, destroying their property, and causing a scale of unprecedented insecurity and instability in Nigeria,” it said in a statement obtained by Persecondnews.

HURIWA urged President Bola Ahmed to take steps to ensure a reorientation, discipline, and professionalism in the ranks and file of the armed forces, noting that some armed security agents’ illegal duties are threatening constitutional democracy.

The group said that the president should stop anarchy and self-help from overwhelming the nation.

HURIWA’S media statement comes against the backdrop of reports filtering in from parts of Plateau state that bandits in large numbers reportedly attacked a Plateau community, Zurak village, in the Bashar District of Wase Local Government Area, killing more than 40 people, including vigilantes.

According to residents of the community, the incident happened on Monday, around 5 p.m., and they could not immediately report the attack due to the poor communication network in the area.

A youth leader in the area, Sahpi’i Sambo, confirmed that the bandits arrived at the community on motorcycles with sophisticated weapons and started shooting sporadically.

“More than 40 people were killed, and many were injured. Residents of the village have fled to neighbouring communities for cover.”

He added that, as of yesterday, security personnel had not yet arrived in the community.

Condemning these incessant attacks targeting the extinction of a particular group, which it described as genocide and crimes against humanity, HURIWA called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to step in and ask President Tinubu to stop these genocides of Plateau natives and the subtle attempts by Fulani terrorists to seize their highly fertile and agriculturally rich, resource-rich lands.

“We will compile records of these attacks and send them to the ICC to assess and determine if the service chiefs in Nigeria can be charged with war crimes for doing nothing while armed terrorists kill off unarmed and undefended citizens.”

We call on the Plateau State Governor to act swiftly to stop these killings of civilians and farmers in his state.