Open defecation: Epidemic looms in Ondo community
By Adedotun Ajayi
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Cholera epidemic looms in Irese, an agrarian community in Akure South Local Government area of Ondo State as the town has been overwhelmed.
Investigation by The Hope revealed that most of the houses have no latrines and inhabitants preferred to excrete at the bushy thereby constituting nuisance to other inhabitants.
Also, some without latrines but under the call of nature will just dash to the back of any house to answer the call, thereby putting the lives of others in danger.
When The Hope visited the town on Wednesday, it was a total gloom as houseflies were humming over feaces in places visited by our correspondent.
Reacting to this, Oba Ahmed Destiny Saka, the Ajila III, Olurese of Irese, said the people had been reprimanded by the Ondo State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA) on the dangers and effects of open defecation but no positive outcome in the community.
“I don’t know if our people here are complying, because I can’t visit their homes one after the other to know if they have toilets or not, apart from that, the waste management board has never visited Irese before, that’s why everywhere is stinking. I can’t point to anything we have benefitted from the government, no public toilets, nothing at all. We appeal to the government to come to our aid before things get out of hand,” he said.
A pastor in the community, Dr Olalusi Olapade, said, “on the issue of open defecation in this community, there’s nothing we have not said and done. In fact I made announcements about this same issue every Sunday in Church so that our members can tell others at home but still to no avail.”
“It is causing serious environmental pollution, we can’t even breathe in fresh air. Some of the houses in this community have toilets but they prefer to use the bushes around.
Apart from the horrible community smell and spread of communicable diseases like polio, typhoid fever and hepatitis, this open defecation poises serious danger to this community and those practicing it are prone to attacks by wild animals while defecating in bushes. We want government intervention; we are not safe at all”
Another resident who identified himself as Olaiya, said “Regrettably, within six months, there have been an increase in the rate of open defecation in this area.
There’s nothing we have not said and done but these people won’t listen, I caught one of them the other day and he categorically told me fetching water is stressful, that he would rather use the bushes around, and it’s serves as fertilizer to his crops too, just imagine.