[All Africa] "We go to the stream, we don't have water here, even toilets; we usually use the bush. A woman was bitten by a snake while defecating in the bush and another one was bitten when she went to pick firewood for cooking," Hannatu Peter, an internally displaced person at the New Gongola IDP camp in the Federal Capital Territory, said.
"We want the government to help us, especially on these toilet and water issues. Some women urinate anywhere and get infected; the majority of us are having infections and treating infections in hospitals is quite expensive."
Strange as the testimony may sound, this is a typical scenario in several communities, particularly in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps across Nigeria, as poor living conditions and the dearth of sanitation facilities are peculiar features of such neighbourhoods.
A major outcome of the lack of sanitation facilities is open defection which, according to experts, usually provokes the outbreak of waterborne diseases such as cholera and dysentery in such communities, particularly among the children.
According to Nigeria Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Poverty Diagnostics Report, the country's sanitation sector is in a critical condition.
The report shows that the economic growth of Nigeria, which has an estimated population of over 183 million, has not translated into rapid poverty reduction. |