Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A sanitation enforcement exercise at Chorbe Market in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State turned deadly on Thursday, September 24, 2026, when operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps opened fire on traders, killing one person and damaging several vehicles in a confrontation that has once again exposed the fragile relationship between security personnel and roadside traders in the state.
The violence erupted when officials of the market traders' association invited NSCDC operatives to enforce the weekly sanitation exercise, which required traders to close their shops and participate in cleaning the market. The trouble began when the operatives attempted to compel traders operating along the roadside to comply with the directive. The roadside traders resisted, arguing that their shops were outside the main market and that they were not members of the association responsible for the exercise.
"Our shops are along the road, not inside the market. We told them we are not part of their sanitation exercise, but they insisted we must close," one trader, Malam Sani Musa, told Punch. Another trader, Grace John, who sells provisions close to the market, said the situation escalated when the armed operatives began harassing traders. "They came with guns and started threatening us. When some of the traders refused, they started shooting. One person was shot, and, in the process, some hoodlums smashed windscreens of vehicles parked along the road," she said.
The identity of the person killed had not been officially disclosed as of the time of reporting. The injured trader was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. Ibrahim Yusuf, a vehicle owner whose car was damaged during the chaos, expressed frustration over the destruction. "I just parked my car by the roadside to buy something. Before I came back, they had smashed the windscreen. Who will pay for this now?" he asked.
Within minutes, streets around the market were deserted as residents fled into their houses and locked their doors. Pandemonium spread to adjoining areas, including Apata, Alikazaure, Katako and Masalachi, extending towards Bauchi Road, areas described as hotspots of frequent clashes in Jos North. As traders regrouped to confront the operatives, the overwhelmed security personnel reportedly fled in their vehicle.
The Plateau State NSCDC Command confirmed that the incident was being investigated. Spokesperson ASP NR Rimvyok said the command was looking into the circumstances surrounding the confrontation. The Plateau State Police Command had not issued a statement on the incident as of the time of filing the report, and efforts to reach its spokesman, Alfred Alabo, were unsuccessful.
The clash has once again brought attention to the delicate balance between enforcing environmental and public health regulations and ensuring that such enforcement does not escalate into confrontation. Sanitation exercises are routinely undertaken to maintain cleanliness and public health standards in markets and other public spaces, but disagreements over the scope of enforcement, particularly where roadside businesses are involved, can create tension if affected traders believe they fall outside the jurisdiction of the exercise.
For the traders of Chorbe Market, Thursday's violence was not an isolated incident. It was the latest in a pattern of confrontations between security personnel and roadside traders in Jos North, a pattern that has left blood on the streets and vehicles in ruins. The NSCDC's investigation will determine how a routine sanitation exercise ended with a body on the ground and a community in panic.
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