National Telescope national telescope newspaper
A Christ Life Church branch in the Ibadan South-West Local Government Area of Oyo State, which is situated in Golden Estate, Oluyole, was closed off by the state government on Friday.
In the state capital of Ibadan, this was revealed by Abdulmojeed Mogbonjubola, the Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources.
Noting that the ministry had taken multiple unresolved efforts to reconcile disputes about noise pollution between the complainants, residents, and church management, Mogbonjubola remarked that the action had become necessary.
“The only option left to the state government was to seal off the church premises in order to prevent the inevitable escalation of brewing tensions between the residents and the church on Sunday,” he stated.
After receiving multiple complaints, from next-door residents to the church, over the incessant noise, through official letters and phone calls, the commissioner visited the church on Thursday, November 9, 2023.
“The team recorded the sound level of the church activities at intervals, starting from praise and worship, with an average reading of 74 decibels.
“The action of the church contravened the Extant Environmental Regulations of 2023, Section 58, Paragraph (b) which states that the noise limits for residential areas at daytime must not exceed 65 decibels.
“A resolution meeting was held with the parties in the ministry’s conference room on November 29, 2023, where the church refused to sign the undertaking letter, with the excuse to get approval from its headquarters and report back on Monday, December 4, 2023.
“The state government decided to seal off the church due to the continued disobedience to the regulations,” he explained.
In the same vein, the Oyo State Assembly charged the Ministry of Environment, Urban Development, and Physical Planning in year 2017 to sanction any religious institutions found violating the noise pollution law, accordingly.
