The Oyo State Government, on Friday, sealed off a branch of Christ Life Church located in Golden Estate, Oluyole, in the Ibadan South-West Local Government Area of the state, citing tension brewing between the operators and other residents in the locality.
Defending the seal-off, the Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Abdulmojeed Mogbonjubola, said the step followed unresolved issues between the church management and residents of the area.
This, he stated borders on other residents accusing the church of constituting nuisance and the worship centre’s management’s failure to comply with rules relating to noise pollution in the state.
“The team recorded the sound level of the church activities at intervals, starting from praise and worship, with an average reading of 74 decibels.
“The action of the church contravened the Extant Environmental Regulations of 2023, Section 58, paragraph (b) which states that the noise limits for residential areas at daytime must not exceed 65 decibels.
“A resolution meeting was held with the parties in the ministry’s conference room on November 29, 2023, where the church refused to sign the undertaking letter, with the excuse to get approval from its headquarters and report back on Monday, December 4, 2023. The state government decided to seal the church due to the continued disobedience to the regulations,” Mogbonjubola narrated.
