• Residents battle cholera, dysentery, other water borne diseases
• Decry open defecation, plead for public toilets
Children and adults in Otuabagi, a community in Ogbia Local Government Area of BBayelsa State, where Nigeria first discovered and exported crude oil in commercial quantity, are afflicted by water borne diseases following unbridled engagement in open defecation. Devastated by their predicament, the embattled people have vowed never to engage in the despicable practice anymore if provided with public toilets. But will the state government and other representatives of the area in the state and national assemblies deem it fit to help the community? INNOCENT DURU asks.
Pa Pamarier Odiki, a former local wrestler, has been practising open defecation since he was born 84 years ago. His forebears engaged in the primitive practice and he and his offspring inherited it.
His choice place for defecating is the brownish river where he majestically rides to on a canoe to discharge fecal matters from his bowels.
“It is inside river that we defecate,” he said in a voice that bellied his old age.
“We always go on a canoe to defecate at waterside. The faeces goes and comes around. It’s often turning around the river because as the river carries it away, it brings it back subsequently,” he said.
When fetching water for domestic use, Pa Odiki said, “if you see faeces in the river, you use your bucket to push it away and fetch water. We always allow the water to settle down before we drink it.”
Pa Odiki sees nothing disgusting drinking such water since they have no alternative and are used to doing so.
“I don’t feel any how consuming the water. If you want to bathe in the river, you will push the faeces away so that you don’t pack it on your head,” he added.
While he and other members of the community are used to drinking the polluted water, the octogenarian admitted that “we suffer dysentery very often. Sometimes it is cholera that we suffer. If you drink the water, it will upset your stomach and you will begin to defecate anyhow.”
Going to a hospital for treatment is never in Pa Odiki’s plans whenever he suffers dysentery. Going to a hospital is ultra vires as far as he is concerned.
His words: “I do enter the bush and pluck certain leaves to treat myself. I don’t go to the hospital. Is it not money I will need to settle the bills?
“At my age, where will I see or get the money to go to the hospital?
Asked why he doesn’t have a toilet in his house, the aged man said “mud houses don’t build toilets. Where to pooh has always been a problem.”
Checks around the community shows that poverty walks on all fours. The land lacks basic amenities in spite of being the community that launched Nigeria into the comity of oil producing countries. Instead of the prosperity they were promised when oil was first found on their land, massive pollution occasioned by oil spill, failed or jaundiced water project, moribund cottage hospital, among other calamitous baggage, are all the people have been rewarded with.
The land, which produced crude oil in large quantity, has ironically lost its good treasure and turned into a land where fecal matters are recklessly disposed, compromising the wellness of the area.
A septuagenarian, Madam Ikiomabhar Orubo, told our correspondent that she has also been engaging in open defecation all her life. Defecating in a toilet, ancient or modern, is alien to her.
“I don’t have a toilet. I live in a mud house. The house is compacted and there is no space for toilet,” she said, clarifying that it is not a taboo to build a toilet within the house in the community.
“I journey to the waterside anytime I want to defecate,” she said, adding: “I go out even in the night to defecate. I have nothing to fear.
“In my 70 years of existence, I have been defecating in the open. Since I was born, I have been going to the river to defecate. My children also go to the river to defecate.”
Like Pa Odiki, Madam Orubo also goes on a canoe to pooh in the river. “When it is night, you can pooh and throw it away around waterside. I have a canoe that I use to go and defecate.
“It is the same water that we drink. We don’t have an alternative. We pooh in the water and still drink from it.
“My body does not do me any how drinking from the river we defecate into. I am used to it,” she said .
The dark complexioned woman, however, said she stools at times “because we also drink the same water.”
Each time she suffers health crisis drinking the contaminated water, Madam Orubo said she travels to Kolo for medical treatment; a journey which, according to her, costs about N5,000.
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Unlike the above respondents, Ibaru Enenia, a 56-year-old landlord and native of the community, says he does not pooh in the river. His ideal places for defecating are the bushes.
He said: “Some people are ashamed of saying that they pooh in the bush, but I am not, because we don’t have toilets.
“Right from the time I was born, I have been defecating in the bush. I don’t defecate in the house,” he said.
Enenia explained that he defecates in the open because he does not have the means to add toilet to the modern house he built. “It will cost about N200,000 to build a toilet but I don’t have such money. Will I kill myself? If I have the money, I will build a toilet in my house. I pooh anywhere in the bush,” he said
To buttress the fact that the practice is widespread in the community, Enenia said: “When defecating in the bush, you will see other people coming there too to come and pooh.
“My children and other family members go into the bush to pooh. If I feel pressed in the night, I go out with my torch into the bush to pooh.
“I am never afraid of anything, because when pooh holds you, fear will disappear. Some people pooh inside river.”
Enenia also confirmed that the practice together with the oil pollution in the community has been responsible for myriads of water borne diseases in the community.
His words: “Cholera, dysentery, leprosy, small pox and several other health challenges are ravaging our lives because we practice open defecation.
“I have contracted sicknesses defecating in the bush. I will not deny that. As I am talking with you now, my body is itchy. Unfortunately, I don’t have money to go to the hospital. But if you give me, I will go. I use herbs for now to treat any sickness.
Mother of five relives children’s battle with diarrhea
Jennifer Simeon, a 31-year-old mother of five, said her children have always had a running battle with diarrhea.
She said: “They often experience stomach disorder after drinking the water. After a while, the stomach will settle down.
The children do vomit and defecate watery faeces. Whenever they have the challenge, I always run to a nearby chemist where they mix tablets for them.”
Responding to why she chooses to patronise chemists instead of taking them to a standard hospital, Jennifer said: “Our hospital here isn’t functional. Before we get to where we have a hospital, we will spend about N5,000. This is why we rush to chemist anytime we see those symptoms.”
Jennifer also admitted engaging in open defecation. “I pooh in open places because we don’t have a toilet here. We pooh at the river side and when we go to the farm, we also pooh there. These are the two places we pooh.”
Even though the river and bushes make defecation easy for her, Jennifer said she doesn’t feel happy defecating in the open but because of the situation “we have found ourselves here we have to manage what is available.
She noted that defecating in the open portends a lot of embarrassment even though a large number of people in the community practice it.
“I do face embarrassment defecating in open places. Some people will chase you away, asking why you are defecating in front of their place.
“They would say carry you faeces and go away from here.
“But since I don’t have my private toilet, it is still in the river I have to go and defecate and it is often in front of somebody’s house. They insult us every time but we don’t care about that anymore. Children don’t also have toilets in school. They pooh inside bucket or paper and throw it away.”
She averred that she is forced to consume the polluted water because she does sot have the resources to buy sachet water, which is cleaner and healthier.
She said: “We get our water from the river we pooh into. Sometimes we put alum to clean it up. At other times, we use it without adding alum whenever there is water scarcity. Since we don’t have pipe borne water, what do we do?
“We don’t feel anyhow drinking the contaminated water. That is what we have been drinking since they gave birth to us. We are used to it.
“We know that health crisis stems from our exposure to polluted water and environment, but there is nothing we can do about it.
“We don’t have any alternative. We always have itchy skin and dysentery. We the women have rashes on our private parts.”
Asked why she had not considered buying sachet water, which is cleaner, Jennifer said: “How will I be able to buy it every day and also give to the children to drink?
“There is no source of income here. I am a farmer. But when you even complete the planting, thieves will take the harvest.
“This compounds the poverty level in this place.”
No shyness in open defecation
Gift Monday, a 30-year-old, said there is nothing to be shy about in open defecation.
“If I am defecating and a man is coming to pooh too, he will move to one corner to do his own while I remain in my own place doing mine. I have defecated three times today and it has been watery,” Gift said.
She added: “Right from when they gave birth to me till date, I have been defecating inside river. My children too have been defecating in the river.
I don’t have a toilet in my house. I pooh in the river any time I am pressed. We don’t have the space to build toilet in the house.
“That is why everybody poohs in the river. We drink the contaminated water and also bathe with it.”
Suggesting that affliction has become a norm in the community, she said: “Sickness comes and goes among us. We vomit and stool. We suffer diarrhea.
“Whenever diarrhea comes, I travel to Kolo for treatment. I spend more than N4,000 travelling to Kolo. At the hospital, I will pay N10,000 to get medications, aside from paying to obtain card.”
Why youths can’t construct public toilet
A 27-year-old member of the community, Omonibo Smart, while lamenting widespread practice of open defecation in the community, said: “We the youth have not thought of constructing public toilet because we lack the financial capacity.
“The living standard here is very low. Only a very few privileged members of this community have toilets.
“We are not comfortable defecating in open places, but that is the only way we can ease ourselves.
“We go out to defecate be it in the night or in the day time. The children in the community also go to those places to defecate without any fears.
Community begs for public toilet
Following the rising health crisis bedeviling the community as a result of defecating openly all over the place, the people have appealed to the state government and their representatives in different public offices to provide them with public toilets.
Pa Odiki vowed that “if they provide public toilet for us in the community, I will use it. Nobody will ever see me at riverside to defecate.”
Speaking in the same vein, Madam Orubo said: “If the government will provide toilet for us, we will appreciate it. I really need it. A modern toilet will be highly appreciated.”
On his part, Enenia said: “I actually feel bad that we pooh in the bush, but there is nothing we can do about it.
“That is why we are calling on the government and kind-hearted people to come and help us with public toilets.
“The government should help us with public toilets. Three public toilets with six rooms will be okay for us, because we have three compounds here.
“Once we have public toilet, I will not pooh in the bush again.”
Bayelsa public officials decline comment
Efforts to the reaction of different political officers in Bayelsa to react to the predicaments of the people of Otuabagi were unsuccessful.
Our calls to the Commissioner for Health Dr Brisibe’s line kept showing that his line was busy. He had yet to react to our text and WhatsApp messages sent to his mobile line as at the time of filing this report.
This would be the second time our correspondent reached out to the commissioner on issues affecting the embattled commissioner without getting any response.
Our correspondent had similar experience with the lawmaker representing the area in the House of Representatives, Hon Chief Mitema Obodor. Calls to his line kept showing it was busy. He equally did not respond to text and WhatApp messages sent to him on the subject matter. It was also for the second time he declined comments on the challenges facing the people.
The senator representing the area, Senator Benson Sunday Agadaga could not be reached. A WhatApp message to his line returned with a report that the message was read. Our correspondent had also reached out to him previously on issues affecting Otuabagi via the same mobile line without getting any response.
NDDC declines comment again
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) a federal government agency established by former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo in the year 2000, with the sole mandate of developing the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria, once again failed to state what it has done or doing to address the challenges bedeviling Otuabagi.
The spokesperson, Seledi Thompson Wakama said she was bereaved and couldn’t respond to our inquiry. She had previously told our correspondent that she would provide an answer to our question when it’s available. She never did.
In spite of the huge budgetary allocations to the commission and our efforts to draw its attention to the embattled community, NDDC has not deemed it expedient to look into the plight of Otuabagi. The sum of N2,493,138,248,477 was allocated to the commission in the 2025 budget but the total funds allocated to it could not be verified at press time.
In spite of rising revenue, Bayelsa turns blind eyes to Otuabagi
Findings showed that Bayelsa State receipts from the federation account has improved tremendously in recent time espcially in the past two and a half years of Presiden Bola Tinubu administration, yet, providing public toilet for the community where Nigeria obtained its first crude oil.
Between 2020 and 2025, excluding 2021 which revenue figure was not obtained at the time of filing this report, checks reveled the state has received over N1.2 trillion from the federation account.
In 2020 state received #136billion, 2022 N229.81 billion, 2023 N268.34 billion and N293bn in 2024. Bayelsa State received ₦306.88 billion, finishing as the fourth highest recipient as at August 2025.
The Bayelsa State Internal Revenue Service in March this year announced a historic increase in the state’s Internally Generated Revenue. It said the IGR hit N4.2 billion in a single month, marking a 320 per cent surge from previous figures.
60 percent of communities practice open defecation
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Bayelsa State government early in the year lamented that 60 per cent of communities in the state practice open defecation while only 40 per cent of riverine residents have access to clean water.
They made this known during a two-day media dialogue on Bayelsa State’s 2025 ‘Cholera Response and Tractive Messaging on UNICEF/Government’s Joint Health Intervention’, which was held in Yenagoa, the state capital.
Speaking on ‘The Cholera Crisis in Bayelsa: A Deeper Look’ the Commissioner for Health, Bayelsa State, Professor Seiyefa Brisibe, represented by the Director of Public Health in the ministry, Dr. Jones Stow, said as of February 2025, the state had recorded 942 suspected diarrhea cases, across five high-risk LGAs: Southern ljaw, Ekeremor, Sagbama, Nembe, and Ogbia.
He said behind those numbers were real lives — families who have lost loved ones, children hospitalized for preventable illness, and communities paralysed by fear.
The health commissioner stated: “The roots of this outbreak are stark — 60% of affected communities still practice open defecation due to a 75% gap in proper toilet facilities.
“Only 40% of riverine residents have access to clean water, forcing reliance on contaminated streams.”
