The Jigawa State Government, in collaboration with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Department for Foreign Development (DFID), has built 44 toilets in Birniwa Local Government Area of the state towards eradicating open defecation.

The State Water Sanitation and Hygiene Programme Coordinator in the area, Isyaku Umar, made the disclosure to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Birniwa on Thursday.

He said each of the toilets, built between January and July, had a full complement of a borehole and an overhead tank.

Mr Umar said the toilets were built in Birniwa General Hospital, Government Day Science Secondary School, Sarkin Arewa Government Secondary School, Dolen Kwana, Matamugu Primary School, Birniwa, among others.

The coordinator said a committee was constituted in each area where a toilet was built to protect the facility and mobilise funds for its repair if damaged.

He said part of his mandate was to educate the public on the water safety plan and the need for the people to avoid having stagnant water around them.

“In most cases, water fetched from boreholes is clean, but it becomes contaminated if transported home in a dirty container or the container has no cover.

“We have also advised the people to ensure they drain dirty water near the boreholes and other sources of water, to prevent them from submerging and contaminating the clean water in the boreholes,” Mr Umar said.

(NAN)