Bama returnees seek more toilets as Banki resettlement expands
Families returning to Banki in Borno State are asking for more toilets as resettlement expands, saying existing facilities are nearing capacity. No disease outbreak linked to the sanitation concern has been established.
BAMA — Returnee families in Banki are calling for additional toilet facilities as more households rebuild their lives after displacement.
One returnee, Saleh Usman, said families had received accommodation and running water but that existing toilets were becoming inadequate for the growing population.
He expressed concern that children could resort to open defecation if additional facilities are not provided.
That remains a returnee account. IDNN has not independently obtained a current toilet count, sanitation inspection or WASH assessment quantifying the shortfall.
Returnees say toilets are nearing capacity
The sanitation concern comes as families continue returning to Banki after years of displacement.
Residents say the available toilet facilities are under increasing pressure as the resettled population grows.
The concern is about sanitation capacity and potential public-health risk. It does not establish that a disease outbreak is occurring.
No current health-agency assessment reviewed by IDNN links the Banki complaint to an active outbreak.
Returning families also seek schools
Returnees are also asking for better access to education and other basic services.
Habiba Muhammadu called for school facilities as families rebuild their lives in the community.
Bama Reconstruction Committee Chairman Lawan Wakilbe said authorities planned to establish a new primary school within Tijani Banki Memorial Government Day Secondary School.
He also said livelihood support would form part of the wider resettlement effort.
The material reviewed by IDNN, however, does not provide a similar timetable, budget or implementation plan for expanding toilet facilities.
Thousands have returned through wider repatriation programme
Banki has received returning families through a broader repatriation programme involving Nigerians previously living in Minawao refugee camp in Cameroon.
Federal records show that 680 refugees in 162 households arrived in Banki during the final convoy of the fourth repatriation phase in February.
The same phase returned 3,122 people in 557 households across Bama and Gwoza LGAs.
Those figures describe the broader return programme. They should not be treated as the current population of the particular settlement raising the sanitation complaint.
UNHCR has separately documented support for hundreds of returnee households rebuilding their lives in Banki.
Resettlement requires functioning basic services
Housing is only one part of sustainable return.
Families also require sanitation, schools, healthcare, water and livelihood opportunities if resettlement is to become stable community life.
For Banki, the sanitation question can be measured directly.
Authorities need to establish:
- how many people currently use the facilities;
- how many toilets are functional;
- whether existing pits require desludging;
- which agency is responsible for additional facilities;
- what funding has been approved; and
- when any expansion will be delivered.
Until those figures are available, the verified position remains limited: returnees in Banki say toilets are nearing capacity and are asking for additional facilities as resettlement expands. Government representatives have acknowledged broader service needs and announced an education intervention, but no specific sanitation-expansion timetable or confirmed disease outbreak has been established.