No Toilets, No Safety: 1,300 Kano Pupils Face Health, Rape Risks At School

Koguna Central Primary School in Makoda local government area of Kano State is home to over 1,300 pupils from primary one to six, a school that has seen recent renovations, yet still lacks one of the most basic necessities: a functional toilet for its children.

Deprived of proper sanitation, these young pupils are left with no choice but to defecate in the open  around the school premises or in nearby bushes. This heartbreaking reality not only strips them of dignity but also puts their health at constant risk, as human waste contaminates the environment, food, and water sources. The consequences are dire: the spread of preventable diseases, poor hygiene, and a daily threat to the well-being of children who simply came to learn.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Open Defecation (OD) is the practice of defecating in open spaces such as fields, forests, bushes, or bodies of water, rather than in proper toilets or latrines.

A recent field visit by journalists under the Kano State WASH Media Network (WMN) revealed that Koguna Central Primary School, despite undergoing structural renovations, has no functional toilet facility for its 1,300 pupils. The only available latrine, an unimproved double pit toilet , is strictly reserved for the school’s seven teachers, leaving the children with no option but to defecate in the open, exposing them to daily health risks and indignity.

This dire lack of toilet facilities has left pupils with no choice but to relieve themselves in nearby bushes, around the school compound, or make the long trip back home during school hours , all in a desperate bid to find privacy. This risky practice exposes them to snake bites, sexual assault, harsh weather conditions, and often results in poor school attendance and declining academic performance.

According to UNICEF, every two minutes a child dies from diarrhea and vomiting in Nigeria, with over 200,000 children , an average of 548 daily  lost each year to preventable diarrheal diseases, many of which are linked to unsafe sanitation and open defecation.

The agency also reported that one gramme of faeces(shit) can contain about 10 million viruses, one million bacteria, 1000 parasite cysts, and 100 parasite eggs ; as such OD is linked to variety of diseases primarily transferred through pathogens from fecal matter, which include diarrheal diseases like cholera, typhoid, intestinal worm infection, polio and the transmission of some Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Meanwhile, LEADERSHIP Weekend learnt that efforts to construct new toilet facilities or repair the partially collapsed latrine built in 2016 have so far been unsuccessful. The school’s headmaster, Mohammed Halladu, revealed that they have reached out to the School-Based Management Committee (SBMC) and several philanthropists for support, but they are yet to receive any response or assistance.

Similarly, a visit to the Mokoda Model Primary Health Care Centre revealed a distressing reflection of the same sanitation crisis , open defecation driven by a lack of water at the facility. Investigations by the same team of journalists uncovered that the community has been without electricity for the past six years due to vandalism. Although the facility is equipped with a solar inverter, its battery capacity is grossly inadequate to provide consistent power or pump the water needed to maintain hygiene standards.

The Primary Health Care (PHC) centre serves not only residents of Makoda but also caters to patients from the neighbouring Ghari local government area and several bordering communities from Jigawa State. This makes the lack of water and sanitation facilities even more alarming, as it poses a serious public health risk to a large and vulnerable population seeking care.

Further investigation revealed that the health facility is equipped with a total of 19 toilets , 10 pit latrines designated for patients and 9 water cistern toilets for staff. However, due to the lack of running water, many of these toilets are unusable, forcing some patients to defecate in the open within the facility’s premises. This not only undermines the purpose of having toilets but also creates an unhygienic and unsafe environment for both patients and health workers.

However, the officer-in-charge, of the facility, Abdullahi Ma-aruf, noted that, the facility has continue to sensitised patients on the dangers of open defecation and importance of hand washing while it’s making considerable effort to pump water using a generator, an expense which drains the facility’s purse.

Similarly, a visit to some parts of the community shows how some households still practice OD.

A widow, Hansanatu Usaini, in Koguna community acknowledged practicing OD, noting that, since the demise of her husband, she could not afford to rebuild their collapsed pit laterine. She explained that the adults used a polythene bag and threw it away while the children pooped around not knowing about any health or environmental implications.

In his remarks, the Head of WASH department in Mokoda LGA Shittu Yahaya, admitted the challenge of open defecation in the area, highlighting mobility as a major hindrance to adequate sensitization in communities.

He added that, the LGA is making effort to ensure all the 313 boreholes in the area function effectively, noting that 140 malfunctioned boreholes were fixed in 2024.

WASH expert , Theola Monday stressed that overcoming the sanitation and hygiene challenges witnessed in Makoda requires a collective effort. She emphasised that all stakeholders ,  including government authorities, community members, traditional rulers, and religious leaders — must work together in a coordinated and sustained manner to tackle the crisis and ensure lasting solutions.

She emphasised that the lack of adequate WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) facilities in schools is not only a development concern but also a fundamental human rights issue. According to her, it is imperative for the government to take urgent action to ensure that every child learns in a safe and healthy environment , one that fosters dignity, reduces health risks, and nurtures environmentally responsible citizens.

She further noted that equipping all public institutions with sufficient toilet and water facilities is a crucial step toward aligning with global standards and achieving Nigeria’s Open Defecation Free (ODF) target by 2030.