Oyo State government has sealed a new generation Church, located at Golden Estate, Oluyole, Ibadan, over alleged noise pollution.
The measure was taken by the state government, against a branch of Christ Life Church in the area, after several unresolved steps taken by the Ministry for Environment and Natural Resources to mediate among the complainants, residents and the church management.
The commissioner for environment and natural resources, Architect Abdulmojeed Mogbonjubola, said the state government was left with no other options, but to seal the church premises to avert preventable escalations of brewing tensions between the residents and the church on Sunday.
Some members of the community had locked the estate gate against members of Christ Life Church, preventing services to be held in the church premises.
Mogbonjubola, declared that the present administration would not fold its arms and allow escalations of any sort.
Officials of the ministry on receipt of several complaints from next door residents to the Church, over the incessant noise, through official letters and phone calls, visited the area, on Thursday 9th November, 2023.
The team recorded the sound level of the church activities at intervals, starting from praise- worship, with the average reading of Seventy-four (74) DB (daytime), contravening the Extant Environmental Regulations of 2023, Section 58, Paragraph (b) which states that the noise limits for residential areas at daytime must not exceed 65DB.
Hence, it was ascertained with sound measurements that the church constituted noise pollution.
He emphasized that a resolution meeting was held with the parties, in the Ministry’s conference room on 29th November 2023, where the Church refused to sign the undertaking letter, with the excuse to get approval from its Headquarters and report back on Monday 4th December, 2023.
The ministry frowned at the consistent crisis, which consequently resulted in the sealing of the church.
The commissioner, however, warned against occurrence of noise pollution, both by churches, mosques, club houses, industries, companies and market places, saying violators would be prosecuted.
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