PRESS STATEMENT

"NOISE POLLUTION "

*YOU MUST GET GUARANTEE FROM YOUR RESIDENTS ASSOCIATIONS BEFORE YOU ARE REOPENED-LASG*

As State reads riot act to owners of hotels, night clubs, leisure homes and religious centres who engage in noise pollution

The Lagos State Government on Tuesday read the riot act to operators of night clubs, bars, karaoke centres, churches and mosques in the state that were shut down due to noise pollution, that they will not be reopened until a letter of guarantee is issued on their behalf by the residents association of such area.

The Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tunji Bello explained that it was also discovered that many of such leisure centres/religious homes after being reopened by the State Government usually go back to the same noise pollution for which they were earlier axed, adding that this prompted the issue of involving the residents associations.
#NoToReopeningWithoutResidentsAssent

Kingosytex:



The volume of noise that emanates from most worship centres is legendary.

izzou:


LASEPA doesn't need people to complain at all. Let them drive around Lagos and seize any speakers found outside

I have three churches on my street and they are not helping issues. I always pray for dawn once it's Friday night.... Especially last Fridays of the month

naptu2:
Reactions

sexycat:



Is it not better to have churches on your street than to have withches and wizard meeting point at every pole on your street. you better choose one now ooo because you can't have it all, as soon as churches are under lock and key , the witches will find their spots there

sexycat:



Is it not better to have churches on your street than to have withches and wizard meeting point at every pole on your street. you better choose one now ooo because you can't have it all, as soon as churches are under lock and key , the witches will find their spots there

Mustay:
A guarantee by the residents does not make sense, just enforce the law. What if residents want the road to be blocked for a party? Will they relax the law on that? It only takes a few bucks to influence the residents association for a business that thrives on noise. What if most of the residents belong to a religion whose house makes noise, does that mean the few have no say? Who thought of this #NoToReopeningWithoutResidentsAssent

naptu2:


Here's the reason for this policy (although I think it should be #NoToReopeningWithoutComplainantsAssent.

Often times people complain to LASEPA and LASEPA goes to inspect the premises without informing the complainant. If necessary, LASEPA issues a warning to the defaulter without informing the complainant. If the defaulter continues to break the law, then LASEPA seals the premises.

However, after a period of time, if the defaulter takes steps to comply with the law, for example, removing the offending loudspeakers and signing an undertaking that he won't break the law, then LASEPA might reopen the premises. Some defaulters wait a few months and then start to break the law again.


This practice makes a lot of people to believe that LASEPA is not effective. I have spoken to a lot of people who believe that LASEPA does not respond to their complaints. This is because LASEPA has not carried them along and informed them of the actions that they are taking.

This is an attempt to keep the stakeholders, i.e. the residents that are complaining, in the loop.

Although, like I said, I believe that they should seek feedback from the complainant, not the residents' association.

Here's a perfect example of what I'm talking about. This woman was persistent, but not many people are as persistent.

She reported a church to LASEPA. They came and inspected the church, but they did not tell her the result of their inspection. The church continued to disturb the neighbourhood. She made many more reports, but nothing changed. Then she took matters into her own hands. She went to complain directly at the church, but they then used her as a prayer point. She documented all the actions that she had taken and sent them to LASEPA.

Finally, one day, the church announced that they were changing the venue of their midnight services because someone kept reporting them to LASEPA.

https://www.nairaland.com/5170712/woman-reports-noisy-church-lasepa#78125208

Mustay:


We have a serious problem with our way of thinking and this is where LASEPA and any info agency can start appealing to the minds of Lagosians because those who make the noise don't know how it affects others. Some people have died, others can't sleep and we have those who have hearing loss. And we wonder why there are many aggressive people in Lagos. People are channeling their grievances to others. Anyway that's an aside.

For your example, that's what is expected. I have monitored shows where LASEPA officials come on air and the consensus is the same when they bring this issue up - 90% of the people don't feel they do anything concrete. Normally, people should be able to follow up online or through text services. Online, people can submit evidences with timestamp of the incidence. Not everything Twitter.

My problem with the hashtag is that we are interpreting the law to give permission and this is why they say presence of laws is not our problem, absence of enforcement is. Let them include this clause in the law because you and I know that there are vested interests everywhere so saying you need an assent is a loophole. The resident can be bribed to shut up. After all, it's this same Lagos unapproved buildings get built and some officials will act like superman when it collapses and kills people. What if the complainant dies? Reporting is even people helping them do their jobs - offence that they ought to be using to make money from. If you are a repeat offender, they increase the fine you pay for violating the law and 3rd offence or more can lead to closure or suspension of licence or whatever. Man must chop, when you deny them the avenue to enjoy, they will comply.

izzou:


LASEPA doesn't need people to complain at all. Let them drive around Lagos and seize any speakers found outside

I have three churches on my street and they are not helping issues. I always pray for dawn once it's Friday night.... Especially last Fridays of the month

helinues:
Good

Blue3k:
These guys should learn to limit their activity to a certain decibel. Im surprised fines dont dissuade these people. Im guessing they're probably not paying that much compared to shst they're raking in.

naptu2:
Lasepa has taken action against lots of churches, mosques, music stores, hotels and factories that have been engaged in noise pollution and there are many nairaland threads about those incidents, so I'll encourage you to complain, because the system works.


2009 threads.

Lagos Shuts Redeemed Christian Church Of God, Academy Press And Other Companies.
https://www.nairaland.com/345207/lagos-shuts-redeemed-christian-church

Fashola May Close Down Us Embassy Warehouse
https://www.nairaland.com/256257/fashola-may-close-down-us


Fashola Seals Oyakhilome’s Warehouse
https://www.nairaland.com/371035/fashola-seals-oyakhilomes-warehouse



“shackled By Laws On Noise Pollution”
https://www.nairaland.com/361263/shackled-laws-noise-pollution



2010 thread
Lagos Orders Churches To Remove Loud Speakers
https://www.nairaland.com/487060/lagos-orders-churches-remove-loud

2011 thread
Lagos To Re-open United Nigeria Textiles
https://www.nairaland.com/744800/lagos-re-open-united-nigeria-textiles



2012 threads
Lagos State shuts down Lord's Chosen, 6 other churches because of noise pollution
https://www.nairaland.com/876166/lagos-shuts-down-lords-chosen

Fashola, Clerics To Tackle Noise Pollution In Lagos
https://www.nairaland.com/1056540/fashola-clerics-tackle-noise-pollution


2013 threads

Lagos May Shut Abattoir Market

https://www.nairaland.com/1236877/lagos-may-shut-abattoir-market


79-year-old Lady Sues Redeemed Church For Noise Pollution
https://www.nairaland.com/1171114/79-year-old-lady-sues-redeemed-church


2015 threads

Lagos State Shuts Down Churches, Mosques, Over Noise Pollution
https://www.nairaland.com/2286013/lagos-state-shuts-down-churches


Lagos Seals Kanu Nwankwo’s Hotel, Worship Centres
https://www.nairaland.com/2500532/lagos-seals-kanu-nwankwos-hotel

22 Noisy Churches Shut Down In Lagos State
https://www.nairaland.com/2558926/22-noisy-churches-shut-down

Lagos Shuts 53 Churches, Mosques, Hotels
https://www.nairaland.com/2792857/lagos-shuts-53-churches-mosques

LASEPA Seals 28 Hotels
https://www.nairaland.com/2815687/lasepa-seals-28-hotels


2016 Thread

Lagos Seals 70 Churches, 20 Mosques, 11 Hotels For Noise Pollution
https://www.nairaland.com/3184760/lagos-seals-70-churches-20

2017 Thread

Lagos Bans Live Band At Beer Parlours.
https://www.nairaland.com/3695063/lagos-bans-live-band-beer

2019 Threads

Woman Reports Noisy Church To LASEPA. Forces Them To Change Venue Of Vigil
https://www.nairaland.com/5170712/woman-reports-noisy-church-lasepa#78125208

Noise Pollution: Lagos State Seals 8 Mosques And Churches
https://www.nairaland.com/5536868/noise-pollution-lagos-state-seals

naptu2:
I see that an unnecessary argument is brewing.


Lasepa does not immediately seal the premises of defaulters. It warns and advises them.


The fact that a person does not want to sleep in heat does not mean that he should prevent his neighbour from sleeping due to the noise of his generator. There are things that can be done if people are considerate.


The person that owns the generator can have it soundproofed, like the commissioner did, or he can change the location of the generator, so that he can still use his generator without disturbing his neighbour.


Noise pollution has very serious consequences. One of the things that the commissioner talked about in that Sunrise Daily interview was the fact that they tested school kids in Lagos and a high percentage of them had one form of hearing impairment or the other and one of the causes was the high level of noise pollution in Lagos.


There are also old people (like the 79 year old woman that sued Redeemed Church), people with hypertension and people who are ill who very much need a good night's sleep, but are unable to get a good night's sleep because of noise pollution. That's why there is a law in place to tackle the problem.

naptu2:


What you are asking for already exists both at the federal and state levels.

Unfortunately I'm in transit at the moment, so I'm going to compose this post entirely from my memory, but I'll provide more information when I get to my destination.


The law that created the Nigerian Environmental Safety Regulatory Agency (NESREA) empowers it to set noise limits. Individuals and organisations must comply with this limit or they will be made to pay fines for every day that they contracene the regulation and they can also be jailed. Unfortunately I can't remember what the limit is.


In Lagos State, LASEPA has set a limit of 55 decibels during the day and 45 decibels at night. I watched an episode of Sunrise Daily (between 2005 and 2009) in which the then commissioner of environment, Dr Muiz Banire talked about noise pollution.

He said that he tested the generator in his home and discovered that he was contravening the law and he had to get it soundproofed. He said that citizens could complain to LASEPA and LASEPA would initially issue a warning to the defaulter to reduce the noise being emitted. Then they will conduct inspections to see if their warning is being complied with and lastly, they will seal the property if the problem continues.


I've posted a long list of example of action taken against churches, mosques, bars, factories, hotels etc. and ways in which you can contact LASEPA. I'll search for them when I get to my destination or you can use the Nairaland search bar and type " Naptu2 Lasepa "