As part of commitment to ensure hygienic environment for healthy living, open defecation now attracts seven lashes and N200 fine in Unguwan Damaru in the Soba Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
Mallam Adda’u Ibrahim, the community’s Chairman of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Committee, said that in addition to seven lashes and the fine, the offender would also be made to properly dispose of the excreta.
Ibrahim made the disclosure to the correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria who was in the community on Thursday to assess the impact of the Phase II of Sanitation, Hygiene and Water in Nigeria project in the area.
He said the measure was part of the efforts to promote hygiene and prevent the outbreak of diseases in the community.
Ibrahim explained that in the past, open defecation and living in filthy environment was part of the day-to-day lives of the over 2,000 people living in the community.
“For us, there was nothing wrong in excreting wherever is convenient for us, from the adult down to our little children. You can do it anywhere as long as you are comfortable oblivious to the health risks.
“Animal and human faeces became a normal sight all over our community and in addition to our filthy environment, our only source of water was an open well, infested with all kinds of dirt, because it is always left open.
“Running water flow back our excreta into the well during the rainy season, and in the dry season, the wind also plays its part by depositing all kinds of objects and debris into the well. With no alternative, we bath, cook and drink from the well that is infested with germs, and this exposed us to preventable diseases, ranging from cholera, diarrhoea, malaria, among others,” he said.
He said that consequently, the community members became regular visitors to hospitals for the treatment of one diseases or the other, “and we kept wondering why it was so.
“Little did we know that our poor attitude to environmental sanitation and hygiene was responsible for the constant ailment and numerous deaths being recorded particularly among children less than five years,” the committee chairman said.
Ibrahim however said that the story has changed since 2017 when the community was selected among the beneficiaries of the SHAWN II project.
He said that the SHAWN project had transformed their lives, stressing that it had encouraged them to build toilets in their homes, including public toilets.
“The projects equally provided us with a borehole for access to good sources of water and taught us how to keep our environment clean and how to properly wash our hands with soap all the time.”
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