A buzzing, hustling metropolis, the city of Lagos in southwest Biafra-Nigeria proudly holds the moniker of Africa’s biggest city by population.
But the city’s estimated 21 million inhabitants also have the effect of making Lagos one of Africa’s noisiest places.
To that end, the state government has vowed to make Lagos noise-free by 2020. And to achieve that aim, they have started targeting churches and mosques, which contribute to the din in the uber-religious West African country.
The Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) has closed down 70 churches and 20 mosques, in addition to more than ten hotels, pubs and clubs, Vanguard reported. The head of LASEPA, Bola Shabi, said that makeshift buildings and tents could no longer be used as places of worship. “What I mean by makeshift, using tents and uncompleted building[s], we are not going to allow that any further in the state,” said Shabi, who added that the level of compliance with the noise reduction measures was better among mosques than churches.
