An uncompleted building, which is now a dump site for human waste
Image credit: Nigerian Health Watch
By Ozumi Abdul
At dusk in Idiche community, when shadows stretch across the narrow footpaths and the noise of the day settles into uneasy quiet, Shuaibu Halima (not real name) begins her nightly ritual. She waits patiently, sometimes for hours,until the streets are dim enough to conceal her movements. Only then does she slip out of her one-room home in search of a hidden corner to relieve herself.
As a mother of four without access to a toilet, this nightly journey is not just humiliating but deeply frightening. She has heard stories of girls harassed in the bushes, and popular Ireba hill, women grabbed behind abandoned buildings, and neighbors who never returned from a nighttime trip. Each evening, she steels herself for a walk no woman should ever be forced to take simply to ease herself.
For Halima, the absence of a basic sanitation facility has turned her daily existence into a cycle of fear, shame, and strategic survival. She times her movements, adjusts her meals, and watches over her daughters with anxious vigilance. Across Okene’s densely populated communities—Idiche, Ozuwaya, Lafiya, Inorere—thousands of women share this reality. With no private toilets in most homes and few functional communal options, they rely on uncompleted buildings, dark footpaths, and overgrown bushes. What should be a natural and private human need has become a dangerous task, governed by the rhythms of darkness and the hope of invisibility.
As the sky darkens, the risks intensify. Women rarely step out alone; girls move in pairs; mothers accompany their teenage daughters at dawn. Some women drink less water to avoid nighttime urination, while others refuse to leave their homes after sunset. These coping mechanisms reveal a hard truth: open defecation in Kogi Central is not only a public health emergency; it is a gendered crisis that compromises women’s safety and dignity every day.
A Regional Crisis with Devastating Health Consequences
Kogi Central is one of Nigeria’s most affected regions in the open defecation crisis, with more than half of its population lacking access to proper sanitation. As a result, human waste litters footpaths, bushes, drainage channels, and refuse dumps. During the rainy season, floods sweep faeces through the streets, contaminating homes, communal spaces, and water sources. This persistent exposure fuels widespread infections across the region.
UNICEF identifies diarrhea as the second leading cause of death among Nigerian children under five, with more than 100,000 deaths annually linked to poor sanitation and contaminated water. Intestinal worms, cholera, typhoid, and dysentery flourish where open defecation is rampant, linked to poor sanitation and contaminated water. Intestinal worms, cholera, typhoid, and dysentery flourish where open defecation is rampant.
Cholera in particular remains an endemic threat in Nigeria, with major outbreaks recorded in 1991, 2010, and 2021. The country’s cholera case fatality rates often exceed the WHO threshold of under 1%, underscoring systemic gaps in disease response. In regions like Kogi Central—where fecal contamination is widespread—the potential for another outbreak is high.
Women’s Vulnerability to Harassment and Sexual Assault
While men also face environmental and health risks, the burden on women is far greater and more dangerous. Without safe, private toilets, women must seek isolated areas to relieve themselves, often far from their homes and often at night.
This exposes them to sexual harassment, stalking, physical assault, and sexual violence. Girls as young as twelve hold their urine and feces for hours, waiting for daylight or companionship. Mothers accompany daughters in the early morning, refusing to let them venture out alone. For many women, every trip to defecate carries the fear of being watched, followed, or attacked. The absence of gender-sensitive sanitation facilities has stripped women of privacy, safety, and peace of mind.
Environmental Degradation and Community Impact
The crisis extends beyond personal safety and health to severe environmental degradation. Residents frequently rely on “flying toilets”—nylon bags used for defecation and discarded into drains or dumps. As rains arrive, these bags resurface and float through flooded streets, spreading contamination across entire neighborhoods. According to WHO public health expert, Dr. Edwin Isotu-Edeh, every uncontained deposit of human waste functions as a “disease super-spreader”. This constant environmental exposure traps communities in an endless cycle of illness, poor sanitation, and unsafe living conditions.
Behavioural Barriers and Community Realities
Despite the risks, behavioral and cultural patterns continue to drive open defecation. Many residents grew up defecating in the bush and regard it as normal. Others prefer secluded spots out of habit or in search of privacy. Poorly maintained shared facilities, where they exist, discourage usage. Without consistent access to safe, clean toilets, lasting behavior change remains out of reach.
Nigeria’s goal to become Open Defecation Free (ODF) by 2025 under the Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet campaign aligns with global SDG 6.2 targets, yet progress remains slow. Only about 100 of 774 LGAs have been certified ODF. The 2021 WASHNORM survey reports that 48 million Nigerians still practice open defecation, with Kogi State consistently ranking among the top three worst-affected. The gap between national ambition and community reality is stark, particularly in rural and peri-urban regions like Kogi Central where infrastructure and investment lag behind population needs.
Pathways to Solutions
Solving the crisis requires coordinated, long-term strategies. First, expanding gender-sensitive sanitation infrastructure is essential—facilities must offer privacy, lighting, water, and separate sections for men and women. Second, women’s safety must be integrated into all sanitation planning, with women included in community committees and facilities installed in schools, markets, motor parks, and high-density neighborhoods. Third, surveillance systems must be strengthened to monitor outbreaks, improve water quality, and provide continuous public health education. Fourth, behavior change campaigns must be rooted in local culture, engaging religious leaders, traditional rulers, youth associations, and women’s groups. Finally, increased and sustained government investment, supported by civil society and community accountability, is critical for long-term progress.
The open defecation crisis in Kogi Central is not simply a sanitation failure—it is a threat to public health, a daily danger to women, and a profound erosion of dignity for thousands of families. For women like Halima, what should be a basic human activity has become an act of fear. Until communities have safe, private, and accessible toilets, open defecation will remain a source of sickness, insecurity, and humiliation. Ending this crisis demands investments that safeguard women, protect children, restore community dignity, and move Nigeria closer to fulfilling its promise of a safer, healthier,
open-defecation-free society.