The National Orientation Agency Tuesday sensitised residents of Lafia, Nasarawa State capital on the dangers of open defecation to human health.
The agency’s director-general, Garba Abari, said Nigeria loses about N455bn annually to poor access to sanitation while no fewer than 102,000 under five child deaths were recorded each year.
He said open defecation was widely responsible for the high number of deaths of children under the age of five.
Addressing the residents at a sensitisation programme, Abari said the sensitisation was to achieve open defecation-free Nigeria by 2025.
According to him, the impact of the unwholesome practice had caused various diseases including diarrhea, cholera and typhoid.