Sixty-one members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), under the NAPTIP Community Development Service (CDS) group in Oshodi-Isolo Local Council of Lagos State, have taken their environmental campaign to the Army Arena Shopping Complex, where they evacuated 17 bags of waste and sensitised traders on proper waste disposal.

The corps members carried out the exercise yesterday as part of a community development project tagged “Operation Green Humanity – Clean Environment, Clean Community.”

The exercise focused on the frontage of the railway and the interior of the market, where the corps members cleared accumulated refuse and transported 17 bags of waste to the dumpsite within the complex.

Speaking with The Guardian, three of the corps members, Happiness Edwin, Ojirika Miracle and Chukwujekwu Prosper, said the initiative was designed to raise awareness about environmental cleanliness and give back to the community during their service year.

They said they observed that while the interior of the market was relatively clean, the railway entrance was heavily littered, largely due to indiscriminate disposal of waste by some traders and buyers.

They appealed to traders and buyers to stop littering and called on the government to enact laws against dumping on the railway track. They warned that a little obstruction could derail a train and endanger lives.

A trader, Ugochukwu Okonkwo, commended the corps members for their intervention, saying: “We try to keep the inside clean, but people still dump refuse at the entrance. We appreciate the corps members for coming to help and create awareness. We want them to keep doing this.”

The President of the NAPTIP CDS group, Mbaebie Esther, said the project was inspired by concerns over poor waste management in the community.

According to her, many residents were unaware of the health and environmental risks associated with indiscriminate waste disposal.

“A dirty environment causes disease and flooding. We urge the local government and community to see cleanliness as a shared responsibility and make it part of their everyday lifestyle,” she said.

The group appealed to the Oshodi-Isolo Local Council to provide waste bins at the market entrance and support regular environmental awareness campaigns to encourage residents and traders to adopt proper waste disposal practices.