By Johnstone Kpilaakaa

JOS, NIGERIA— Built by the administration of the first Military Governor of the old Benue-Plateau State, the late Joseph Gomwalk, Jos Main Market, popularly known as Terminus Market prided itself as the largest indoor market in West Africa.

Located in the heart of Jos, the state capital, it was a huge economic loss when in 2002, the market was razed by fire whose cause could not be ascertained to date.

On May 20, 2014, a twin bomb blast rocked the market vicinity, killing hundreds of people, while parts of the market were also razed in November 2016.

On July 21, 2018, a midnight fire again razed over 200 shops erected on the rubbles of the earlier burnt market.

Since the various fire disasters, successive administrations have not been able to rebuild the market while victims have been counting their losses and calling on the government at all levels to come to their aid and restore back their source of livelihood.

Twenty years after, the market is yet to be rebuilt despite over ₦1.13 billion budgetary allocation by the Plateau state government.

Muhammed Aliyu lost over ₦3 million to the fire outbreak that occurred at the Jos Main Market in 2002.

Lamenting the unfortunate incident, Aliyu said: “Till now, we do not know the cause of the fire outbreak. All of us that had stores could not recover any of our goods. Some of my friends relocated to other states while some who could not get funds to restart their businesses had to stop, and others started to hawk on a small scale.”

Aliyu, who took a loan to restart his business, currently runs a fabric store at “Abuja Market”, a small market located a few meters away from the burnt market, which has become a den of drug addicts and perpetrators of various social vices.

“Once it is past 6 pm and you pass around the market, you will likely be robbed,” a hawker who declined to mention her name said.

In 2019 the incumbent governor of the state, Simon Lalong, budgeted ₦1.1 billion for the “Demolition/Evacuation/Consultancy/Commencement of the building of the Jos Main Market”. An additional sum of ₦30 million was captured in the Plateau State 2020 appropriation bill for the same purpose, making a total of ₦1.31 billion.

Sub-Contractor Paid ₦162million Out Of ₦1.13billion

In 2019, a South African company, Mamco Wreckers Consortium was contracted to demolish the market, which was executed by the contractor, Kyle Perkin, the Explosives Engineer, Demolition Division at Wreckers Dismantling, Cape Town- a demolition company that specialises in implosions and also a sub-contractor to Mamco Wreckers Consortium (the principal contractor).

Perkin told this reporter that, “after the successful implosion of the former market, we returned back to South Africa, as our scope of work had been completed. We were not involved in the clearance or the intended rebuilding. Our role was purely to implode the structure, leaving the clearance of the debris for the principal contractor.”

He also disclosed that “as for the money disbursed to the principal contractor, we have no insight on this. However, our contract value was $450,000 (₦162 million) at the time (the exchange rate in 2019 was ₦360), for the execution of the controlled implosion. We have been unable to reach Mamco Wreckers Consortium for further comments on the overall value of the contract”.

Every search about the company redirected this reporter to Wreckers Dismantling, Cape Town. Several media outfits that covered the demolition also identified Mike Perkin and Kyle Pekins as engineers at Mamco Wreckers Consortium.

When concerns were raised regarding the high cost of the demolition, governor Lalong told State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja in 2019 that the budgeted “₦1.1 billion was not (only) for demolition but for other aspects of the contract including technical, consultancy and the commencement of the rebuilding of that market.”

Jaiz Bank and Jos Main Market Controversy

Three years later, the rebuilding process is yet to commence at the time of filing this report and the government has disclosed that it intends to sign a ₦9.4 billion agreement with Jaiz Bank to rebuild the market.

“They (referring to the state government) demolished the market in 2019, they also put a temporal fence around it, and we thought they were going to start the rebuilding process immediately but they did not. The fence has been removed and criminals have been using the abandoned building to perpetrate all sorts of crimes,” Aliyu said.

He also alleged that building materials within the market complex were sold by government officials but the government had since denied this allegation.

Despite several calls and WhatsApp messages, Idris Gambo, the state’s Commissioner for Commerce and Industry has declined to comment on the actual contract value that was disbursed as well as what the value captured.

“Who told you that the budget covered rebuilding? Provide the evidence,” Gambo charged at this reporter via phone call. When the evidence of the state governor’s interview was provided to him via WhatsApp as requested, the commissioner did not respond to any other follow-up from this reporter.

According to Sabo Adamu, the general secretary of the Plateau state traders and marketers association, “we (the traders) had previously engaged the state government on rebuilding the market ourselves but they were unenthusiastic towards the idea, until some weeks ago when they called to inform us that they were partnering with Jaiz Bank to rebuild the market.”

Adamu claimed that the association if allowed, was willing to rebuild the market in such a way that ethnic and religious disagreements will not arise. “Traders built the ‘’Abuja Market’’ (another market located in the same area as the Jos Main Market), and it is running up till today,” he added.

Recently, a leaked document revealed that the Plateau state government intends to sign an MoU with Jaiz Bank for a joint venture partnership to build 4,231 shops at the Jos Main Market.

According to the document, the state government will provide the 7.4 hectares of land where the market is located as its equity contribution, while Jaiz Bank will provide financing for the construction of shops worth over ₦9.4 billion to be constructed by BUNYAN Construction Company Limited. The market will be leased to the bank for a period of 40 years to recover its cost and profit.

Since the document became public, indigenous and religious groups in the state have kicked against the partnership due to the history of religious tension in the state.

Dachung Bagos, a member representing Jos South/Jos East federal constituency of Plateau state, went ahead to secure a perpetual injunction at the Plateau state High Court restraining the state government from signing the MoU with Jaiz Bank.

The bank did not respond to questions regarding the proposed deal at the time of filing this report.

• This report was first published  here in October 2022.

This report is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, ICIR.