Task Force, Traders Clash Killed One in Jos

Clash between task force team enforcing an executive order and traders has left one person killed and two others injured in Jos, the Plateau State capital.

Plateau State government has earlier imposed an executive order banning makeshift shops that petty traders use in major streets.

In Bukuru Market, Jos south LGA, the taskforce comprising the Police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) had attempted to impose the ban when violence broke in which one person allegedly lost his life in the process.

An eyewitness, Muhammad Nuhu, told WikkiTimes that “they said no more business on the street in Terminus and Bukuru as it violates the Jos Master Plan. So, people feel aggrieved because there is no provision for any alternative for them”.

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According to him the task force had started demolishing business structures when violence broke leading to the death of a trader and two others sustained injuries.  

Bello Muhammad, a youth leader in Bukuru, said “this prompted the youth in Bukuru to set up blockades on the roads and burn tyres in the protest.

“Some traders were going about their normal businesses, when suddenly armed security personnel deployed by JMBD descended on them,” Muhammad said.

“They shot three of our younger brothers, killed one, while two others got injured,” he added.

The Plateau State Police Command is yet to comment on the incident.

However, Governor Caleb Mutfwang, condemned what he described as “the alleged attack on members of the task force enforcing the executive order on urban renewal”.

Muftwang, in a statement by his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Gyang Bare expressed “my deepest regret over the shameful action of these miscreants, who not only targeted the task force but endangered the lives of traders.”

“The reckless behavior of the attackers, who wielded dangerous weapons to inflict harm and loot shops, resulting in the destruction of vehicles owned by innocent traders is unacceptable.

Caleb also stressed that” We condemn the incident which is entirely avoidable, and we call on those flouting Executive Order 003 to desist from such acts as their uncivilised action has resorted to violence against law-abiding citizens.”