The Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, LASEPA, has shut down the Lord’s Chosen Church, two other churches and two mosques across Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, over noise pollution.
LASEPA officials, backed up by the Lagos State Taskforce on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit stormed the affected churches and mosques today and shut them down for refusing to comply with the environmental laws of the state.
The affected churches are The Christ Chosen Church, Onipanu and Evangelical Apostolic Church. The affected mosques are Darusalam Mosque at Sabo, Yaba and Ayegbesin Mosque at Mafoluku, Oshodi.
The team was led by Mr Kayode Bello, a senior government official at LASEPA.
General Manager, LASEPA, Engr Rasheed Shabi said the affected places of worship were shut down over noise pollution as people in their vicinity had complained about the unabating noise.
He said they were served abatement notices for them to remove the horns and loud speakers outside their churches in order not to disturb the public.
Shabi added that the affected places of worship failed to comply with the abatement notices.
He stated that government had no choice than to shut them down.
According to him, the affected worship centres would not be opened until they comply with the environmental laws of the state as regards noise pollution. Last week, Shabi had said that some of the churches tended to blackmail the state government for closing down their worship centres for not complying with the laws of the state.
He said sensitisation was still ongoing to let the churches know that they do not have to constitute nuisance to their environment and that they could use inbuilt speakers.
—Kazeem Ugbodaga PM News
