Kara Cattle Traders Association, the body of cattle traders operating at Kara (Zango) Cattle Market in the Plateau State metropolitan town of Bukuru, Jos, has made an appeal to the state government not to carry out its plan to move the market to another place as such a move would cause them and their customers undue hardship.

Chairman of the association Alhaji Bala Mohammed who addressed the media as part of activities to mark the 68th anniversary of the market, said the Kara Cattle Market is not just a strategically placed market for cattle business but a central meeting point for peace-building in the state as both Christians and Muslims and people of all tribes meet there daily to transact business.
Mohammed said the present location of the market had become a well known and popular place. The Kara Cattle Market, the biggest of its kind in Plateau State, is located in the neighbourhood of Kugiya, where there is also a general-purpose market.

Kara Cattle Traders Association, the body of cattle traders operating at Kara (Zango) Cattle Market in the Plateau State metropolitan town of Bukuru, Jos, has made an appeal to the state government not to carry out its plan to move the market to another place as such a move would cause them and their customers undue hardship.

Chairman of the association Alhaji Bala Mohammed who addressed the media as part of activities to mark the 68th anniversary of the market, said the Kara Cattle Market is not just a strategically placed market for cattle business but a central meeting point for peace-building in the state as both Christians and Muslims and people of all tribes meet there daily to transact business.
Mohammed said the present location of the market had become a well known and popular place. The Kara Cattle Market, the biggest of its kind in Plateau State, is located in the neighbourhood of Kugiya, where there is also a general-purpose market.

The Plateau State government earlier admitted to a plan to convert the Kugiya neighbourhood to other uses while denying allegation by the cattle traders that a decision had been reached to relocate them to Gyel, a Christian-dominated part of Bukuru.
The state Commissioner for Information & Communication Abraham Yiljap said: “The whole of Kugiya is being acquired to make way for an ultra-modern market of about 3,000 stalls. It is also part of the government’s master plan of urban renewal. Kara is being acquired in the public interest to give way for a massive stadium project to complement the FIFA approved one along Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Way. The traders have been issued the appropriate notices. New sites where they can carry on their business will be acquired and allocated to them.”

Also speaking, the state Commissioner for Housing & Urban Development Solomon Maren said the committee to suggest a relocation site has not advised government on any site, urging the traders not to see government’s relocation plan as vindictive.
He said: “Everybody should keep open mind over what government is doing. It is not as if we aim to punish anybody, not at all. This project is part of the Greater Jos Master Plan which all stakeholders approved. Nobody or group should take it personal. We are all Plateau people. We are doing all that is possible to protect people and their businesses.”

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Traders in Bukuru cattle market plead with Plateau Government not to relocate them