Open defecation: Defaulters risk incarceration, Plateau council warns residents

According to Mr Peter Kassam, General Manager of Plateau Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, the by-law forbidding open defecation is in place in Shendam Local Government and open defecation is penalised by law.

Kassam stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos on Wednesday, noting that Shendam is the state’s first local government to sign the by-law forbidding open defecation.

“The law specifies that defaulters would face a N10,000 fine, jail, or both punishments,” he warned.

He stated that the bylaw established by the local administration was now in effect in order to combat the problem of open defecation.

Following campaigning on the risks of open defecation, he stated that numerous stakeholders have committed their support for an end to open defecation.

“Good sanitation is a critical step toward good health since illnesses like cholera and diarrhoea can be traced back to inadequate sanitation,” he added.

Similarly, Mr Gabriel Bako, General Manager of the Plateau Environmental Protection and Sanitation Agency, stated that the “agency is trying its utmost to guarantee that all households in the city have toilets.”

Bako stated that notifications had been sent to all households without toilets, requiring them to provide one for their tenants, and that defaulters who had been served notices may face prosecution.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Plateau ranks second in the country in terms of open defecation as of May 20, 2021.