The lack of latrines in the Dalwa camp in Maiduguri in Borno State is becoming a health hazard for the internally displaced people living there as they are often forced to defecate in the open.

Apart from health issues, women risk being attacked.

Falmata Maidu from Dalwa told RNI reporter Amina Abbagana:  “We have only two showers and four toilets in the camp. People have to queue to use the toilets and sometimes they cannot wait that long.”

Bintu Kunduli, another camp resident confirmed that both adults and children often had to defecate in the open because of the lack of toilets.

Kunduli said: “I am scared that this is a threat to our health. I urge the government to come to our aid as health is wealth.”

According to research done by UNICEF, more than 46 million Nigerians have to defecate in the open.

Section six of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals calls for improved clean water and sanitation. Nigeria is one of the many countries in the world that has committed to achieve the 17 goals.

The UN recognises that sanitation is a basic human right, meaning that if people get diseases from the lack of proper sanitation their rights are being infringed.

The Nigerian government is tackling the sanitation problem and has set 2025 as the deadline to achieve that goal, putting an end to people having to defecate in the open because of the lack of clean facilities.