A Kano-based man has been sentenced to two weeks in prison after neighbours complained that he was storing bags of human faeces outside his home, which they said made life unbearable.
Mohammed Saidu was taken to court in the city of Kano after residents reported the foul smell to environmental officials.
Magistrate Halima Wali ordered that he be detained for 14 days and fined 100,000 naira (£55; $74). She described his actions as highly inconsiderate and a threat to his neighbours’ health.
Saidu, whose job is to empty sceptic tanks, is believed to have been selling the faeces to farmers to use as fertiliser – a common practice in the region, but which is rarely publicly acknowledged.
“I think he had close to 50 bags of faeces the first time the complaint reached me,” local chief Musa Abdullahi told the BBC.
Neighbours said the stench from the property had become so overwhelming that it was impossible to relax at home.
One of those who complained, Samaila Inuwa, told the BBC that they had initially tried to resolve the matter privately.
“We spoke to him about it, but he didn’t stop,” Inuwa said.
