People in Shomolu are living in hell.

Shomolu LGA/Bariga LCDA is drowning in Noise Pollution. There is a total disregard for residents' privacy and environmental well-being in Pedro, Shomolu, and it needs urgent attention.

There is a proliferation of mosques and churches in the Shomolu settlement. Using Onajimi Street as a base case, there are four churches and three mosques on this street alone. The church on 19/21 Onajimi Str - the church is in an uncompleted building holding vigils twice a month, in addition to their Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday services, bringing a lot of discomfort to the neighborhood.

In addition, the mosques on Onajimi hold prayers from 5am every morning, and extend their call for prayers beyond the allowed 5 minutes (stipulated by Lagos State) and observe all the regular prayer times till 8 pm at the loudest their speakers can reach.

On Anifowose Street, adjacent to Onajimi, we have three mosques and several churches – with one mosque on Anifowose/Awofodu junction; these mosques are the bane of our existence! The mosque on Anifowose/Awofodu junction, is consistently breaking the law by extending their call for prayers beyond five minutes to forty-five minutes – as stipulated by Lagos State Government under the Environmental Laws act of 2017.

Section IV, subsection 177 of The LASEPA Law of 2017 prohibits Noise 177.

(1) It is an offence to use of public address system or loudspeakers to propagate beliefs or ideas, advertise any good, or solicit and disseminate information in any residential place.

The mosques and churches in this Somolu extend their call for prayers for about an hour, disrupting the sleep of all residents.

Adults can’t sleep; babies are crying. Families stay up because their kids can’t sleep with the noise from these religious programs in a residential area.

I have made several reports to the Lagos State Environment Protection Agency (LASEPA), but the religious houses keep breaking the law.

This petition demands that LASEPA MD, Dr. Dolapo Fasawe, a public health expert, who knows the psychological impact of noise pollution on residents to:

• Sanction churches and mosques that have made living in Sholomu a nightmare.
• Prepare a timetable of their worship hours.
• Somolu Local Government Chairman Abdul Hamed Salawu to enforce Lagos state’s laws on noise pollution in the Somolu area.