By Paul Dada
“There are about four churches on my street. One of them is in the building beside me on the left, while the other is two buildings away on my right.
“There’s also another behind my building. The one on the left – a white garment denomination – worships in a small building behind the main ‘face me I face you’ bungalow in front. It holds regular services at least thrice a week and anytime it does, just say bye bye to peace, and welcome to eat blockage.
“I’m not sure the average congregation size is up to 30 on an average Sunday, or Friday vigil, but they have really big speakers that they even place outside on the street during some programmes. At such times, the din is so loud that that it is a menace to one’s ears. My family and many others always shut our windows and doors, but that keeps the noise out. During vigils or special night programs, it is very difficult to sleep.
“Some occupants of the building in front of the church often abandon their houses during such programmes.
“The noise from the churches on my right and behind my building is often too loud, but they’re bearable because they’re a little distant from me. I feel for those whose homes are closest to those churches.”
The words above were said to P.M News by Robert Egbe a journalist who lives within the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State. Egbe’s ordeal caused by religious houses who did not care a hoot about the comfort of people in their neighbourhod, is the same suffered by many Lagosians whose areas of residence are filled with churches and mosques.
Noise pollution is a serious environmental problem in Lagos. Churches and mosques are obviously major culprits in disturbing the eardrums of residents. This, many would say, is an irony since the both Christianity and Islam teach principles of selflessness and love for one’s neighbours. It seems apparent that many religious folks think the way they can get God’s attention is by screaming His praises and loudly making requests to Him even if that action disturbs the health and wellness of those in their communities.
A Lagos landlord, Dr. Julius Aladeloba, complained about how the noise from a church holding vigil close his house robbed his visiting aged mother of her sleep. “My aged mother who was with me couldn’t sleep because of the noise from the church,” Aladeloba lamented.
Jumoke Moyosola an educationist who recently relocated with her family to another part of Lagos recounted the ordeal of her household in their new area of residence. She said to P.M News “Around September in our new location. There is this new church that came into our neighbourhood. I don’t know where these people came from. But the amplified sound was so extreme that the ground of our house shook whenever they were holding their meetings.
“The first day I saw them…it was around evening . We thought maybe by 8pm or 9pm they would finish and go. This particular thing continued every night. They were always having events, doing crusades. During the day like around 6 or 7, they would do their thing outside. In the midnight, they’d continue all through the night, beating drums, running deliverances, doing their praises and worship, doing all sorts. Trust me, you would not be able to close your eyes till daybreak unless you locked your windows. It was so bad that their choir practice was also disturbing. It was so bad that we had to be praying for deliverance from the hands of those people.”
According to MedicalNewsToday, a health-oriented online publication, environmental noise is a common cause of sleep disturbance. It says an affected person may have difficulty falling asleep, inability to stay asleep or waking too early. It says an affected person’ mood and ability to concentrate, may also be affected.
“In severe cases, loud sounds can directly cause hearing impairment. Some forms of noise-induced hearing impairment include: abnormal loudness perception tinnitus, which causes a persistent high-pitched ringing in the ears, paracusis, or distorted hearing,” says the publication.
But those religious houses keep breaking the rules and couldn’t care less whose health is negatively impacted.
The Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency ( LASEPA) has been playing a major role in curtailing the excesses of persons and places guilty of noise pollution. Only recently, the agency said it shut down more than 352 facilities including religious houses in the the state within one year.
In an interview with P.M. News, the General Manager of LASEPA, Dr. Tunde Ajayi, said Lagosians can report those flouting the rules through its website, by sending an email or making a contact through a phone conversation.
He said once a facility is sealed, the reopening process takes 72 hours and certain conditions must be met.
“The reopening process takes 72hrs while conditions for reopening will be issued as directives and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will be signed between the offending party and LASEPA.
He said among other things, the conditions for re-opening to include soundproofing of the entire building, reduction of speakers to the barest minimum and topping the use of musical instruments for all night activities.
But Ajayi said the activities of LASEPA had been responsible for a reduction in the incidence of noise pollution.
“Our activities at LASEPA such as quarterly sensitisation programmes on noise pollution, noise control advocacy programs, charges prompt response to complaints, abatement notices served and lastly the enforcement process have guided religious houses towards compliance to environmental laws.
“Also our mid year report shows clearly that the impact of LASEPA interventions and zonal Offices created across the old 20 LG areas where our officers are always on ground to put necessary checks in place has led to reduced complaints on noise menace by the public,”he said.
