ABOUT 53 WORSHIP CENTERS SHUT DOWN IN LAGOS

THE Lagos State Government yesterday sealed more than 53 churches, mosques and hotels across the state over noise pollution and other environmental ills.

Daily Sun learnt some of the worship centres were sealed because they were converted from residential apartments to places of worship thereby contravening the law and constituting nuisance to other neighbours.

Confirming the development, General Manager of Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), Mr. Adebola Shabi, said the agency received lots of complaints from residents and neighbours about the nuisance constituted by the premises shut by the agency.

“In recent times, most of the petitions kept coming back to us. It was as if we were not working at all. That was why we shut the premises.”

He explained that some of the affected facilities had been served abatement notices before the eventual closure, adding that the growing rate of worship centres in the state calls for serious regulations, especially in the areas of noise pollution across the state. He said some of the worship centres polluting the neighbourhood with noise are usually makeshift structures that do not have government approval.

Meanwhile, ahead of the yuletide, the state government has announced a ban on all forms of open processions and carnivals during Christmas and New Year celebrations. Briefing newsmen after the weekly council meeting, Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, said the measure was to allow for a hitch-free Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Owoseni assured “Lagosians will enjoy a hitch-free yuletide. Miscreants will definitely raise false alarm, wanting to create false panic. We urge people to watch very well as we have put all machinery in place.”

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