June 17, 2026
A court in northern Nigeria has sentenced a man to two weeks in prison after neighbours complained that he had been storing dozens of bags of human faeces outside his home, creating a stench they said made daily life unbearable.
Mohammed Saidu was arraigned in Kano after residents alerted environmental officials to the offensive smell coming from his property.
Magistrate Halima Wali ordered that he be detained for 14 days and fined 100,000 naira, describing his conduct as highly inconsiderate and a danger to public health.
Saidu, who works emptying septic tanks, is believed to have been collecting the waste to sell to farmers for use as fertiliser, a practice common in parts of the region but seldom discussed openly.
