TheCable

The federal government through the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) says churches and mosques engaged in noise pollution can be prosecuted.

Speaking with NAN on Sunday, Aliyu Jauro, director-general of NESREA, said noise remains a major environmental pollutant which affects plants, animals and humans.

Jauro said the agency has received several complaints about noise pollution caused by churches, mosques and industries.

“Once they are subjected to the noise, it leads to a lot of health problems ranging from hypertension and other diseases. So, as an agency, we have a specific regulation on noise control,” he said.

“What we do as an agency is that we go out to ensure compliance. There is a lot of activities people engage that affect the environment and individuals. We receive complaints from a lot of people.

“For instance, places like churches, mosques, even industries are causing a lot of noise which we receive complaints from people, so we do visit such areas, sensitising them about the problem people are facing.

“We also advise them on how they can go about their activities without polluting the environment by the noise. We carry out enforcement when the need arises.”

Jauro asked Nigerians to ensure compliance with environmental laws, adding that the agency will ensure prosecution of any defaulter after previous warnings.

“All these provisions are there in our regulations, there is a provision for fine first, when we receive a complaint we go there and look at the complaint,” he said.

“Then, we go back and serve another compliance notice. We will do that about two times, the third one, we can take either the facility or individual to the court of law.

“But most of the time, we try to see that we resolve the matter amicably with those responsible.

“We do make sure we resolve those disputes, but if they persist, yes, we can sanction the offenders, and also take them to court of law and some of them can be judged.”