Tension in Jos as security denies traders access to shops

There was tension in Jos, Plateau State on Friday morning as the task force set up by the State Police Command to evacuate traders from the major roads and banned markets swung into action.
The Plateau State Government on Thursday ordered the immediate evacuation of traders still operating illegal businesses along the Terminus Market down to Plateau Riders axes.
On Friday morning, members of the task force stormed the busy centre of the metropolis and barricaded all routes leading to the terminus area, with a lot of traders stranded.
The state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Barrister Olivia Dazyem, had on Thursday told the public through a media briefing that the environment is no longer safe for businesses in the area due to security threat.
The state government had earlier placed a ban on the operation of commercial motorcyclists within the Greater Jos master plan area, as well as banned street trading, illegal motor parks and indiscriminate parking of vehicles along major streets of the Jos city centre.
According to Dazyem, the fresh move was taken at a meeting of security chiefs, traders, chieftains of the National Union of Road Transport Workers and the government to reappraise the gravity of the security challenges in the state, particularly the recent twin blasts in the city.