Date: 2020-03-19

Some residents of Awolowo Way, Ilorin, Kwara State capital are decrying what they referred to as religious noise pollution in their environment, and are calling on the government to intervene. The residents said the noise apart from its nuisance act, often deprived them of the comfort of their houses and the required hours of sleep.

Storming The Guardian office yesterday in Ilorin with their complaints, they urged the state government to through the act of the State Assembly regulate the activities of the concerned religious organizations.

The noise from one of the cone speakers or horn speakers in a particular religious house measured up to100 decibels. In that religious house is mounted four horn speakers measuring 400 decibels releasing deafening noises into residential houses adjoining the building.

A consultant Otorhinolaryngology from University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) who equally clamoured for anonymity, said the normal amount of decibels for the ear should be 80. He cautioned residents of industrial layouts and those living around the airport to relocate, as such persons daily receive between 100 and 120 decibels into their eardrums. The Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist said such noise could lead to permanent loss of hearing.

Reacting to the development, the Commissioner for Environment, Aliyu Muhammad Saifuddeen, said: "Noise pollution is a trend that is frowned at all over the world because of its consequences for public health. Kwara cannot be an exception. The Ministry, therefore, calls on our people to exercise restraints and be conscious of the consequences of their actions on the environment and other people."