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By Chioma Okezie-Okeh
“Repent or you will die”, screamed a man believed to be in his late sixties as his voice echoed from a loud speaker hung on a tree. He could be spotted at a regular spot along Canoe Road in Ajao Estate, Okota in Lagos. Residents and business owners seem to have lost hope that one day he would voluntarily relocate.
Residents who spoke with Saturday Sun claim that he resumes daily around 5am and stays till about 10pm and they all know him as Baba. To an average Nigerian, Baba is polluting the air with noise in the name of evangelism.
The noise generated from his loud speaker is similar to that endured by many Nigerians who are forced to live with noise from loud speakers mounted by religious houses within residential areas.
Years ago, the Lagos State Government came up with a law to curtail noise pollution in the state, to curtail excesses of some, who under the guise of religious or social gatherings, had repeatedly, disturbed the peace of residents.
Soon after the enactment of the law, the state, through its Ministry of Environment and another agency, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), swung into action, clamping down on some of the centres said to be perpetrating noise and thereby breaking the law.
LASEPA’s General Manager, Mr. Rasheed Shabi reportedly explained that the agency’s stance on noise pollution has been communicated to all worship centres. He stated that the level of noise pollution allowed is 55 decibels during the day and between 42 and 45 decibels at night.
Sleeping pills, relocation to the rescue
Some residents who spoke with Saturday Sun on the effects on their daily lives have called on the Lagos State Government to be strict with enforcement. While some said they had to relocate to less noisy areas, others have resigned to their fate while seeking alternative ways of reducing the effect on their health
An architect, Mr. Segun Odunlade said he rescued himself and family by moving into an estate that does not permit religious houses or open space parties. “I was living in an open street in Gbagada before High Blood Pressure (HBP) drove me into a gated estate. I moved into the new estate and inside our estate, no church or mosque is allowed. Even if you choose to have fellowship, your next-door neighbour should not hear your voice. Organising parties come with permission from the management. In my new estate, you are expected to switch off your noisy generator, once it is 12am. You are only allowed if you have a Lister generator. This is why most of the residents use solar energy. I am a member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God and I don’t play with my religion or fellowship with other Christians. We have a big building and you can only know that there is a speaker as soon as you step inside the church. Let us learn to respect each other’s religion and stop forcing our ideas and belief on people,” he stated.
Another Lagosian, simply identified as Chief Ufondu who lives at Chevron Drive, Lekki area of the state called on government to create a zone in each area where religious bodies can come and worship. He said: “It is not only the churches and mosques that are guilty of all this noise pollution. Those who organise parties in their compounds with loud speakers blaring should be cautioned. Not everyone in this country can afford to live inside a well-organised estate. It is enough punishment to spend hours in traffic and come home to meet the madness in the name of evangelism. Sleeplessness is now a way of life in Lagos.”
Unlike majority calling for laws to stop the used of loud speaker, Mrs. Nonyelum Okeke, a member of a popular Pentecostal church, thought more churches should increase the volume of their loud speakers. She said: “I know that you are a journalist but don’t allow the devil to use you to destroy the world. We are not suffering because of bad government but sin. In the past, many churches used to go out on evangelism. Now they do not have time again. There was sanity in the country. These days people pretend to be reading their Bible on their phones when they are actually watching porn. There is need for the few who are still normal to scream it out. Repent. Any day we stop people from preaching, the world has come to an end.”
On the after effects of noise on people’s health due to sleep deprivation, Mrs Okeke wondered why people sleep in church.
“Haven’t you observed that despite the loud speakers at churches and parties, people still doze off? It is not the church that is making people not to sleep, it is their sin. Give your life to Christ and you will sleep like a baby,” she advised.
On his part, an Islamic teacher in Ajegunle, Mustapha Abdullahi insisted that the existence of those loud speakers is to help Muslims wake up and pray. “I am an Islamic teacher and also a trader. Sometimes while we are busy chasing money, we forget to pray to the giver of life, wisdom and money. Those calls for prayers are a reminder and even as a Christian, it should serve as a reminder.
“In our mosque, prayers don’t last more than 30 minutes and it’s over. Every Lagosian is awake by 5.30am if they don’t want to be stuck in traffic. I am not in support of those ones that disturb people throughout the night. It is not good,” he stated.
Mrs. Nneka Nwosu, a petty trader in Ajegunle area of Lagos, told Saturday Sun she could only get a sound sleep after taking sleeping pills. “I am a petty trader, I need to wake up as early as 5am to be able to make it to Oyingbo market where I buy fresh pepper, Uziza and Utazi leaves. This is how I survive with my four kids in Lagos. I am not against the church that is behind my house. The problem I have is that they organise vigils every night. They are always shouting and it’s making it difficult for some of us to sleep. Every day I go to bed around 11pm and I have resorted into taking sleeping pills to sleep well, in spite of the noise. The pastor has laid curses on me severally for banging at their door. This why they are not making any progress at all. They have forced me to become a member of their church from my room. I no longer bother myself going to church,” she said.
Another Lagos resident, Catherine, a journalist said she had lost hope in the system when a church that was shut down on account of noise pollution resumed and continued disturbing the neighbourhood. She said: “I live in Aguda, in the Surulere area of Lagos. The most annoying part is that when you report them, they will shut down the church and reopen it again. Last year, I personally went to Itire LCDA and lodged a complaint. I made sure that the church knew that I was the one behind their woes after they were shut down.
“Two weeks later they resumed but removed the speakers. Three months later, they brought back the speakers again and one of the members who saw me standing in front of my house gate had the nerves to tell me that I was an agent of the devil. The person who is a man and an elder told me that I was wasting my time reporting them.
“I gave up and adjusted. The only good thing is that my work schedule allows me to sleep in the morning. It is unfortunate but the fact remains that bad things are still on the increase.”
Also a lawyer, Tony Ache who resides in Ago Palace way in Okota area of Lagos is bitter. He literally screamed when queried on noise pollution: “They should be arrested and accused of attempted murder. The situation is bad and I have reported them severally. I had to employ a driver because I slept off severally while driving. How can I sleep when the church beside our house has refused to allow us have our peace? I even entered the church one day and realised that they had less than 30 members in the church. Why on earth do you need a loud speaker to address such a small crowd? I have written petitions many times, and when the task force came and harass them a bit, they would stop. Weeks later, they would resume. We live in a lawless country where both the leaders and those being led commit crime with impunity. We need laws to stop them – both the offending churches and mosques – to save the lives of Nigerians. How can anyone be creative when you’re always battling with headaches?”
Shut down by government
But you cannot totally accuse the state government of totally shutting its eyes to the activities of religious houses causing noise pollution in the state.
In 2009, the Lagos State Government shut down a parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God and two parishes of Mountain of Fire Miracles Church, MFM over noise pollution.
In February 2012, LASEPA shut down seven churches for violating the law on environmental pollution. The churches, which fell by LASEPA’s axe, include the Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Ministry; Bible Church, FESTAC; the Branch of Christ Church, Oregun; Assemblies of God Church, Ikeja; Golden Gate Church, Ifako-Ijaiye and Seek and Save Ministry, Abule Egba.
Also in May 2012, churches affected included the Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Mission Church, Anthony Village; Christ Chosen Church, Onipanu and Evangelical Apostolic Church, while two mosques, Darusalam Mosque at Sabo, Yaba and Ayegbesin Mosque at Mafoluku, Oshodi were included.
In January 2014, The Transfiguration and Solution Bible Church, which was accused of noise pollution was sealed off few days after some residents on Sebanjo Street, in the Mushin area of Lagos, complained of sleepless nights due to the church’s frequent night prayers.
Also in 2021, Lagos state Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) shut down three churches and two mosques in different parts of the metropolis over noise pollution. The places of worship that came under the hammer were Christ Chosen Church, Onipanu, Assemblies of God Church, Ikeja, Evangelical Apostolic Church, Darusalam Mosque at Sabo, Yaba and Ayegbesin Mosque at Mafoluku Oshodi.
