There
seems to be no end in sight to the feud between residents of Mojisola
Street, Ifako-Ijaiye, Lagos State and Evangelical Apostolic Church.
The residents are accusing the church,
owned by Prophet Olatunji Talabi, aka Lesekese, of causing noise
pollution in the area anytime it holds its services.
They said the noise emanating from speakers at the church, which was under construction, was “deafening”.
It was learnt that a number of petitions had been sent to the state government over the issue.
In one of the petitions signed by
Olusegun Olomofe, and sent to Governor Babatunde Fashola, the residents
stated that government agency in charge of controlling such excesses
was incapable of performing its statutory function..
The petition reads in part, “Since
Evangelical Apostolic Church moved into the neighbourhood, its
activities have been inimical to the general well-being of the residents
and the noise level unbearable.
“Many elderly residents are not able to sleep whenever their service is in session.”
The Chairman, MEGA Community Development
Association, Mr. A.A. Bilesanmi, also showed our correspondent some
letters of complaint written by the association to the police, Lagos
State Environment Protection Agency and the Lagos State Government.
The MEGA CDA is made up of upper and
lower Mojisola Street; Emmanuel Olorunfemi Street; Alimi Ogunyemi
Street; Prince Ajenifuja Street and Gbagba Crescent.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the government initially replied the residents of the street.
The environmental protection agency
wrote to the Chairman of the Mojisola Street Residents Association, Mr.
Oye Balogun, saying the church had agreed to stop using external
speakers; loud musical instruments, microphones and drums except on
Sundays.
The letter by LASEPA said, “Sunday
services should hold between 8am and 1pm. Evening services, including
Sundays, should not exceed 8pm. Vigils should be reduced to once a
month and must be without loudspeakers and musical instruments. The
church is to ensure good neighbourliness with residents in the area.”
However residents complained that nothing had changed.
Balogun, an 81-year-old retiree, said,
“I am a retiree and I am old; all I want to do at this age is to eat and
rest since I am not working anymore; but the level of the noise makes
that difficult.
“We can’t say that they shouldn’t
worship because freedom of worship is entrenched in the constitution of
this country but the freedom to make noise is not allowed. We have been
to the Ministry of the Environment but no action was taken. There was a
time that LASEPA locked up the church but it was only for a few hours.”
There was a service going on when PUNCH Metro visited the church on Wednesday morning and observed that, indeed, the noise from the church was deafening.
One of the church’s pastors, Ilesanmi
Oluwasakin, who spoke with our correspondent, said the church was being
antagonised by the some Muslims in the executive of the CDA.
He said, “It is because three out of the
executive members are Muslims, that’s why they want the church shut
down. After they reported, LASEPA came to investigate and closed the
church. But when they realised that there was no problem, they allowed
us to reopen.
“We have reduced the number of speakers
we use. And after the residents started deflating the tires of vehicles
belonging to our congregants, we bought a space for parking. We only
have vigils once a month.”
The General Manager of LASEPA, Mr. Rashees Shabi, said the noise pollution made by EAC ahd been reported to his office.
He said, “After the complaints were
made, we shut down the church twice. The last time we closed it down was
in May 2012. For us to open it again, an agreement was reached between
all parties, including LASEPA.
“We decided that there shouldn’t be
external loud speakers and no vigil until the church building is
completed. That agreement was signed by the complainants and the church.
“So when the executive members of
Mojisola Street saw that EAC had breached the terms of the agreement,
why didn’t they report to LASEPA?
“If the residents report and we found
that the church still pollutes the environment with noise, LASEPA would
shut down the church indefinitely.”
PUNCH
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