- Churches, mosques given 90 days to remove outdoor loudspeakers
The Enugu State Government has given all the churches and mosques 90 days to remove outdoor loudspeakers and install soundproofing (acoustic) measures within their worship centres.
The decision was reached on Thursday during a stakeholder engagement with Christian and Muslim leaders and state government on the implementation of Enugu State Anti-Noise Pollution Policy.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines noise above 65 decibels (dB) as noise pollution. To be precise, noise becomes harmful when it exceeds 75 decibels (dB) and is painful above 120 dB.
The collaborative meeting organised by the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA) was attended by church leaders, media practitioners, government officials and Muslim leaders in the state.
After the meeting, the chairman of ECTDA, Hon. Uche Anya, announced that “from now to next three months, every church and mosque must remove outside loudspeakers and begin to install soundproof (acoustic) in their worship centres.”
The government had, in 2023 as part of urban renewal policy, directed all night clubs, beer parlors and other entertainment operators to mitigate their noise pollution in the capital city, particularly in residential areas.
Addressing the stakeholders, Anya said that noise pollution has become the biggest challenge for the state, adding, “we cannot continue that way”.
Anya lamented that his office has received over 1,000 petitions over noise pollution from different churches, mosques and businesses around their homes.
He said “I have been in this office for one year and in the last one year we have received over a thousand petitions complaining about noise pollution. Noise pollution from Independence Layout to GRA, from GRA to Trans- Ekulu, from Trans-Ekulu to Agbani road, from Agbani road to Abakpa Nike, from Abakpa Nike to Ugwuaji, from Ugwuaji to name it to Mayor people are in pains.
“If you remember two weeks ago your beautiful city, Enugu was named among the world most prestigious cities. We sat in Paris side by side with the Mayor of Paris, and all the world leading urban cities and what we were discussing is how to prepare these big cities to confront the challenges of climate change. So it was resolved that we must embrace green cities. When we say green people think that green is planting trees, no it is beyond that, it means that we must live our lives in a smart way, eliminating all manner of pollutions.
“That’s part of greening our city. So the biggest problem we have now in Enugu is noise pollution. People are no longer to sleep well at night. You will 100 percent residential neighbourhood you will find nightclub there, you will find mosques there, you will find churches. They will tell us that they’re doing night vigil. The nightclub people will tell us that they are providing empowerment.
“What type of employment are you providing if the children we are training cannot sleep after 10pm and they start these activities as early as 4pm that means that the children cannot have siesta. The children cannot do their homework and the children cannot sleep, and in most of these joints what do we see Indian hemp, trouble, fight, armed robbery, hooliganism, stamped, wrong parking on the road.
Then you come to our churches – some of the churches in pure residential areas what do you see, they are doing night vigil, they’re playing loud music. The neighbourhood cannot sleep, you cannot enter the street, you cannot move. Some of the hotels they don’t even have a parking space, so when they’re having their party and noise everywhere is distr destructed.
“No city can grow like that. So we call this meeting today to take your input because we have formulated what we called Anti-Noise Pollution Policy in Enugu Metropolitan City. Enugu metropolitan City include three local governments – Enugu North, Enugu South and Enugu East.”
