FG declares Katsina, Jigawa, Benue open defecation-free

The federal government has declared Jigawa, Katsina and Benue as states with the highest number of local government areas that are open defecation-free (ODF) in the country.

The head of the Kano/Sokoto UNICEF field office, Maulid Warfa, made this known on Saturday during a media and stakeholders’ meeting in Sokoto.

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He said 21 local government areas in Katsina, 18 in Jigawa, and nine in Benue had been declared open defecation-free.

He said the meeting was to woo the media to join in the campaign and sensitisation on sanitation, hygiene and how to end open defecation in the country.

He added that 25 per cent of the population in the North-West zone had access to sanitation, while 35 had access to good hygiene.