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Lagos State Government yesterday shut down 53 churches, mosques and hotels over noise pollution and environmental nuisance in the state. Some of the worship centres were shut because they were converted from residential apartments to places of worship thereby contravening the law and constituting nuisance to neighbours.
Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, LASEPA General Manager, Engr Rasheed Shabi, while commenting on the closures said the agency received lots of complaints from residents and neighbours of the worship centers .
“In recent times, most of the petitions kept coming back to us. It was as if we are not working at all. That was why we shut the premises. You cannot have makeshift structure and say you want to be conducting services or vigil there. Definitely, you will be disturbing your neighbours. So, the government won’t allow the use of makeshift facilities as a church or mosque. Nobody is allowed to make noise above 55 decibel during the day in the residential area and only 45 decibel is allowed in such area at night. In the industrial areas, 90 decibel of noise is allowed during the day while the noise rate must not exceed 80 decibel at night in such areas. The compliance level is increasing. More residents now understand the effect of noise. Some of the religious houses are also complying with the noise pollution regulations,”.