By Marie-Therese Nanlong

Jos – Before it got burnt in 2002, the Jos Main Market popularly known as Terminus Market prided itself as the largest indoor market in West Africa.

Built during the administration of the first Military Governor of the old Benue-Plateau State, the late Joseph Gomwalk, the market which is situated in the heart of Jos, the State capital was a beauty to behold, adding to the aesthetic of the ancient city.

Known for its national and international patronage, it was a big economic loss when the market was razed by fire which many believed was the work of unidentified arsonists and till date, no one has been brought to book for the economic sabotage of such magnitude.

The incident dented the beauty of the towering structure and dimmed its economic importance not only in the North Central State but to business men who came from far and near for its patronage.

Since that incident, the then administration of Chief Joshua Dariye, that of Jonah Jang and the incumbent Simon Lalong despite various efforts have not been able to rebuild the market and restore it to its lost glory.

Following the failed attempts at repositioning the market which has now given room for the emergence    of mushroom markets at any available spaces in the city, traders and buyers, regardless of the danger of selling and buying within the premises of the dilapidated structure were still managing the market pending when the structure would be refurbished.

The sorry state of the market which has become an eyesore further deepened when a twin bomb blast rocked the vicinity on May, 20, 2014 killing hundreds of people and scarring many more for life. Parts of the market were also razed in November, 2016 but as the memory of the blast faded, more makeshift shops started springing up in the market which traders and customers insisted was the best point of sales and purchase due to its strategic location.

As patrons put the dark memories of the various tragedies behind them, the ever busy market last week witnessed another disaster Saturday night as midnight fire burnt over 200 shops erected on the rubbles of the earlier burnt market.

The cause of the recent incident was still unknown as officials and the victims could not say exactly what could have ignited the fire in that section of the market which deal mostly with cosmetics, second hand clothing, bags, shoes and other accessories.

The State Fire Service said it received a call at about 12.30am and got to the scene at about 12.45am but lack of access road delayed the Service from putting out the fire on time. Immediately the incident happened, the State Commissioner of Police, CP Adie Undie mobilized sufficient security to cordon off the area to avoid looters from taking advantage of the situation to loot unaffected shops.

As efforts were being made to unravel the cause of the fire incident, victims have been counting their losses and calling on government at all levels and all people goodwill to come to their aid and assist them get a means of livelihood.

One of the victims, Magaji Abdullahi who lost goods worth millions of naira said, “I thank God that I am alive but I lost a lot. I had 166 bales of clothes in my shop; some of them go for between N120, N135, N180 and N190 each. If you put that together, it is almost N20million. This government said government is for everybody, government should come to our aid, not only for me but my colleagues who lost their livelihood in this incident.”

Another victim, Alhaji Abubakar said, “I closed in the market at about 6.30pm and I went home. We did not hear anything until around 1am, when I had a call that all the shops had been burnt. I sell clothes, jewelleries and cosmetics and the goods I left in the shop were worth N6.2million. I thank God that I am alive but I am appealing to government, we need their assistance to be able to stand on our feet again.

“Some of us are in the hospitals now and two of our members have died because of this incident. The deceased were hypertensive and having this kind of losses, the situation was aggravated and they did not survive it. Halilu who used to sell shoes and Michael Okafor who was also selling shoes died. Apart from his goods, Michael’s money was also burnt because he left some money in the shop on that day.”

Mustapha Bako who is the Head of Petty Traders Association added, “I want to appreciate the Police and Fire Service, they tried their best and prevented other shops from being looted. The CP, Area Commander, the DPO, they really tried, if not for them, we don’t know what would have happened here. This market was burnt the other time; nothing was done to assist the traders. Let’s see the change, let us see some help no matter how little, we will be glad.”