Risk Communication Strategies and Community Protective Behaviors against Water Contamination: A Case Study of Nukkai, Taraba State, Nigeria

Abstract

Consumption of unsafe water leading to outbreak of diseases remains a critical public health challenge in developing countries, including Nigeria despite risk communication efforts. This study examines how risk communication strategies influence community responses to river water contamination among residents of the Nukkai community of Jalingo, Taraba State, Nigeria. The study was underpinned by Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) as an analytical framework and adopted a qualitative descriptive design that employed purposive sampling to conduct interviews with 18 residents actively dependent on the Nukkai River for domestic use. Data were analysed thematically to explore threat appraisal, coping appraisal, and the role of communication channels in shaping behavioural outcomes. Findings reveal a pronounced knowledge–action gap. Although residents demonstrate high awareness of waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid, functional risk perception is undermined by cognitive biases, including sensory-based risk assessment, the immune body myth, and misconceptions about natural purification. Mass media channels (radio and television) exhibit broad reach but limited behavioural influence, while clinic-based warnings from healthcare personnel are perceived as highly credible. However, a communication efficacy paradox emerges, wherein trust in medical advice is not matched by the capacity to act due to high response costs associated with water treatment. Economic rationalisation, low self-efficacy, cultural resistance to treated water, and fatalistic resignation collectively inhibit protective behaviours. The study concludes that ineffective risk communication in Nukkai is not rooted in information deficits but in structural and psychological constraints. It argues for a shift from top-down, fear-based messaging toward context-sensitive, low-cost, and efficacy-enhancing communication strategies that address economic barriers and lived realities.