How illegal land occupants are promoting open defecation in Port Harcourt

By Nneka Nwogwugwu

Illegal land occupants have been seen to be contributing to open defecation in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, NatureNews observes.

NatureNews correspondent observed during a visit to some areas in the city over the weekend, that there is an increasing rate at which people illegally occupy lands that are not their properties, build batchers (illegal structures) and live with their families.

They build these batchers without any proper provision for toilets or septic tanks to dispose their feaces.

In an interview with a resident of Elijiji-Woji, Praise Samuel, she lamented that most occupants of these lands are mostly people who come into Port Harcourt for greener pastures.

“Some of them leave their villages for Port Harcourt to hustle. Most of them don’t have plans or finance to get proper accommodation. They end up erecting a batcher on another person’s property and before you know it they have occupied that entire land for a long time.

“Since 2010 I started living in this area, these people have been living here.”

When asked if they are legal occupants, she said, “ some of them are illegal occupants because some of them don’t even inform the landlords of these lands before erecting their batchers. I have also heard that some pay rents to the landlords that are aware of their stay.”

Lamenting on how these occupants have contributed to open defecation, she said, “Their stay here is causing more havoc to us here because when they excrete, it flushes down to the road. You can perceive the odour. As it is raining season now, our road will be bad because of accumulation of these wastes from them.

“ It is really a terrible sight and I urge the government to quickly look into this issue.”

NatureNews correspondent who also visited an Estate at Elelenwo, observed that these illegal occupants provided a pit toilet for their use but there is no good channel to stop the water coming from their bathroom from getting to the road.

Efforts were made to speak to the estate management but was told to come back because of preparations for a burial in the estate.

The United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF), released new figures on Nigerians’ access to water, sanitation and hygiene services, the rate of open defecation in Nigeria has remained steady at 23 per cent. As many as 46 million Nigerians still defecate in the open.

The states with the highest rates of open defecation are: Kwara, Plateau, and Ebonyi.