Prevalence of Environmental Abuse among Market Women in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State, Nigeria

This study investigated Environmental abuse among market women in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area (LGA) of Rivers State. Three research questions formulated to guide this study. The study adopted descriptive survey research design, the population of the study was two thousand three hundred and eighty-one (2,381) market women. The population was stratified by the four selected markets (Rumuosi, Rumuekini, Rumuokoro and Oil Mill Markets). A simple random sampling techniques was adopted to select 50 women each from the stratums, to make up a sample size of two hundred (200) women for this study. The Pearson Product Correlation Coefficient was used to compute instrument reliability at an index of 0.88. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions. The findings revealed a high extent of environmental abuse among market women such as waste disposal practice and plastic pollution among market women. The study also unveiled a high extent of lack of environmental awareness among market women in Obio/Akpor LGA, Rivers State. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that Rivers State governments, in alliance with the market women association should focus on providing waste management infrastructure to the market women; mount constant awareness campaigns, environmental education, introduction of recycling initiatives, and the promotion of eco-friendly alternatives, such as reusable bags, plastic containers for mitigating environmental abuse among market women.