Activities grounded to a halt at a major building material plaza in the Jabi area of Abuja on Monday after police fired teargas at protesters and traders.
The plaza, located opposite Chida International Hotel, where construction materials, including electrical systems and interior decoration materials are sold is usually a beehive.
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However, the plaza was shut down and all shops closed on Monday after the police fired teargas at the place multiple times, traders told PREMIUM TIMES.
Traders say the chaos ensued after police fired teargas at the protesters as they tried to take cover at the plaza.
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The first tear gas was fired around 9:35 a.m., one of the traders, Goodnews Udoumorne, told our reporter.
Another trader identified simply as Sulifa said the police fired the lethal substance on three separate occasions forcing them out of their shops.
Mr Udoumorne, who sells electrical materials, explained that the protesters had marched from Jabi Garage Area towards the Chida Hotel street with police vans behind them.
“I was even thinking the police were protecting the protest,” he said.
All of a sudden, the police began firing teargas and some of the protesters dispersed into the plazas to seek shelter. But the police fired more teargas in the plaza, forcing business owners and customers to scamper for safety.
They noted that after dispersing the protesters, the police came back two more times, firing teargas indiscriminately.
This prompted the taskforce and management to close down the plaza.
Ms Sulifa, a car parts dealer, said she saw one person injured on the forehead as a result of the teargas.
PREMIUM TIMES observed police vehicles still patrolling the now-scanty area around 11:40 a.m.
The occupants were agitated at the sight of the vans; they attempted to flee the area in case the police tried to fear teargas again. However the police did not shoot the substance.
As of press time, the plaza was still shut down with no sign of business activities.
The protest, organised by Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate of African Action Congress in the last general election, calls for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), from his prolonged detention since 2021.
Mr Kanu, who has been detained bby the State Security Service (SSS) since June 2021, is being tried at the Federal High Court in Abuja for treason over his separatist activities seeking the independence of Nigeria’s South-east as a sovereign nation.
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The Nigerian-British citizen is accused in the charges of inciting violence that has caused deaths of many and destruction of private and public properties in the region.
Despite a court order allowing the planned protest which the police pledged to obey, they dispersed the protesters using teargas.
Earlier today, the police tear-gassed protesters from the meeting point around Transcorp Hilton, dispersing them. They would, however, regroup at different places including the Hilton hotel area.
Others moved towards Berger and down to Jabi and Utako areas.
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