Religious activities and noise pollution in the society

In recent time, some religious houses, particularly Churches and Mosques, in the name of  worshiping God have resorted to using public address system to attract people to their centres, thereby resulting to noise pollution in the society.

The Hope Correspondent, Kayode Olabanji, spoke with lawyers on noise pollution and its legal Implications. 

EXCERPT:

Mr. Olaleye Steve Akintububo, an Akure-based legal practitioner.

Noise pollution is actionable under our law of tort. Nuisance is a form of tortious liability which may attract damages upon being proved in a court of law. Nuisance is when you constitute a sort of inconvenience to residents in the neighborhood. It may be in form of passing nauseating liquid, odious gas or polluting the environment with unbearable noise which is the subject matter of our discourse here.

There are certain things the court will take into consideration when looking into whether an action constitutes noise pollution or not. Is the noise made in a residential area or in a commercial cum industrial area? In the former, the court will frown at such act of noise pollution. But in the latter, the court may not hold that noise in that area constitutes pollution.

Coming to the issue now, there is no gain saying the fact that religious houses such as mosques and churches are springing up everywhere in Nigeria including majorly residential areas. It is a fact that these religious houses make use of highly audible public address system which constitutes serious noise pollution.

When one raises an eyebrow to that, the religious adherents are quick to accuse you of “waging war against God”. This is not so. One must take into consideration the plight of the aged, the sick and other vulnerable members of the community who are being affected negatively by noise pollution.

It leads to stress as many people in the neighborhood cannot have sound sleep after a hectic day at work. Religion propagation goes beyond noise making.

There are other effective ways of propagating one’s religious tenets than noise making. I humbly want to urge government at all tiers to put in place effective legal frameworks to regulate this unbecoming act of noise pollution.

 Otunba Yemi Adetoyinbo, an Akure-based legal practitioner/ Human Rights Activist.

The emerging notorious issue of religious activities and noise pollution in the society is becoming dangerously and anachronistically alarming to the very existence of every member of the society.

The churches and the mosques are the purveyor of alarming propagandist sermon of religious activities, with the use of saxophones, megaphones, exotic amplifiers, high wired microphones, guitarist synthesis amidst loud drumming, causing noisy pollution, astronomically deafening noxious and diffuse noxical noises and disturbances to other people’s peace in the neighborhood.

Thus, this singular but multi-faceted and multi-dimensional act is in clear contravention and breach of the Fundamental  Human Rights of the affected citizens, guaranteed under Chapter 4 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, as it relates to right to Privacy, freedom of worship, right to peaceful assembly, freedom of religion,  etc.

So, those religious activities should be peacefully conducted, not in such a way as to breach the peace of others. When an offence of constituting contributory nuisance and negligence is committed, which are not only tortuously wrong, but it is actionable and punishable by award of penalty or damages, under Section 147 of the Criminal Procedure Code Laws of Ondo State, 2006 which meted out sanctions on any creation of noxious noisy  activities, capable of vitiating, causing breach of peace, and causing health hazards to others is punishable by law.

This also has a similar provision under the Criminal Procedure Act LFN 2004, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, and the Administration of Criminal Law of Ondo State 2016.

A Tort of Trespass to a person is thus committed on the basis of Common Law rule which gives the provision for the breach of the peace of another person, and to cause one’s breach of peace of another is to violate their peace and tranquility.

To some extent, personal presence and the inviolability of the person extends to those sorts of disturbances, by which the person might at any time be interfered with, provided he does not commit any tort against his co- tenants and the only remedy is an action for damages.

lt is a direct and wrongful interference with the peace of others which is either intentional or negligent act and it is disruptive and damaging.

See Hedly Byrne’s case, in England where like foreign lands, there exists peaceful Assembly, law and order is illustrated rule in Nigeria in Immarsel Chemical Co. Ltd v National Bank Ltd.,  Agbonmagbe Bank Ltd v C.F.A.O Ltd on the legal rights and duties of parties and 3rd parties Duty of Care.

Trespass to a person can come by way of noisy pollution, assault, battery, negligence, Kidnap, on Wright Vicanwood,1950 2 KB 515 when the noise of lorry engine in the neighborhood, the Calves took to fright, ran to highways, they knocked down the plaintiff who was cycling on the highway, the defendant was held liable. See also Section 7-12, and Section 80, 4 (2) Law Reforms (Torts) Law 1961 Lagos State. In overseas countries, there are  adequate safeguards and regulations against the flagrant violations and deliberate infraction of the fundamental human rights if the citizens on noisy activities through religious worships. In Ondo State, Nigeria, there exists registration of religious bodies and regulations of same, by CAC and government, like churches, mosques,  crusaders, etc.

Permits for open churches and lslamic programmes are granted by the Ministry of Interior at national levels and Ministry of Environment at both State and national level, to ensure prosecution of offenders of noisy pollution activities causing breach of public peace and lawful order of religious activities, and unlawful assembly procession in the realm of Constitutional Law.

As for the alleged/ purported slapping or assault of a pastor by the presiding judge of the Court of Appeal sitting in Akure recently, it was an overreached misnomer, the case of taking the laws into one’s hand, jungle justice, and both extra legal and extra judicial, as the Judge had committed occasional assault, which is punishable under the Criminal Procedure.

The judge could have preferred a charge and report the pastor for prosecution to abate nuisance by the Ministry of Environment for the breach of peace of the court and  capable of causing mental perturbation to the court and the judges, and for causing religious noisy pollution activities around the Court of Appeal area in Akure, Ondo State capital.

As the offence of the pastor is civil, not criminal, and can only suffer penalty or damages by awarding sanctions, nothing more or even warning to pay fine to abate nuisance as obtains in advanced countries of the world in order to prevent public noisy pollution nuisance by the religious worships centres, registrations, approval and regulations of churches and mosques, as prayer centres are factored on industrial  zones, and not within residential or Government  Reserve areas (GRAs), so that the alarming incidents of noisy pollution activities in nuisance will be minimally reduced.

Public nuisance resulting from locations, localization concentration and conflagrations or agglomeration of churches and mosques within the urban residential areas/metropolis should be discouraged, and we should look in the direction of RCCG, MFM, Synagogue, Winners Chapel, Christian Life Bible Churches etc Camps all at the outskirts of Lagos.

So, the episodic and diffuse tension of the alleged slapping of the pastor of the Tabernacle church by the said Judge over noisy activities pollution by his Church would have been averted.

I handled a petition on church activities between one Pa D.A Faloye V Prophetess Oyedele of a church in Oshinle, Akure in relation to noise pollution few years back.

We settled the parties amicable, at the Ondo State Ministry of Environment, by advising the church to lower their highly explosive saxophone, megaphone, loud speakers amplifiers, as deafening, as well as the onomatopoeic beatings and that  sounds of the church drumming be solemn and reduced.

 Mr. Gani Ashiru, an Ikare-based legal practitioner.

Our Criminal Law does not adequately address the issue. However, based on section 234 (f) of the Criminal Code, the state can prosecute the offender(s).

The offence is a misdemeanor. In the United States, there are local laws banning such an act. Under the common law of nuisance, one can sue in civil suit. But the law restricts the right here by placing a caveat or condition by requiring a consent of Attorney General before instituting an action because it is a public nuisance.

It will be good if our legislative houses can address this issue  by enacting a law which specifically ban this nuisance.

It should be noted that the offence is described as a misdemeanor under the Criminal Law.

An individual complaining has to prove how the nuisance affects him more and above other members of the public.

Issue of this kind of nuisance has received attention of international community and is addressed under International Environmental Law.

The implementation is for the individual states.

Mr. Chijioke Anieto, an Abuja-based legal practitioner.

Generally, pollution of the environment brought about jurisprudence of the environmental law in the society, like the case of Ogoniland pollution for which its people got substantial sum of damages against the Federal Government.

Talking about air pollution generally, there are two angles to the right that person could claim damages when comes to air pollution. There is public and private nuisance. In case of public litigation, it has to do with general public, while the private is peculiar, which the person has to show evidence to claim damages from the person causing air pollution

However, that is the essence of the right of each individual suffered air pollution

In Ogoniland, they were able to show damages suffered from crops, fishes and what are view as a result of oil pollution

I don’t think government has made sufficient provision to protect private individual from the instances of air pollution, because, if a person suffered air pollution as a result of the activities of industry he must has proof for particular damage suffered  as a result of fume, but this is very difficult to prove unlike the air pollution has to do with general public.

A person who suffers from air pollution can approach court with peculiar damage suffered from the air pollution.

In case of industrial action which causes smoke to the general public, it will be difficult for a person to claim damages for peculiar effect of the smoke.

I believe Ondo State should have Thought Law , which is against actionable wrong to protect individual.

Mr. Ola Dan Olawale, chairman NBA Akure Branch.

Nigeria is a secular state. This means that every person has right to freedom of religion. Section 38 of the Constitution of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) provides for freedom of religion as part of fundamental rights of Nigerian citizens.

This right includes right to propagate and preach one’s belief and religion. When viewed from this perspective, it could be safely concluded that churches and mosques are within the ambits of the law in propagating their religious believes.

However, a man’s right stops where another person’s right begins. In other words, duties and rights go hand in hand. It is our duty to keep the environment habitable for all. Noise pollution is an environmental hazard. National Environmental Standard Regulations Enforcement Act (NESREA) and various Regulations made pursuant to its kick against noise pollution in all forms. Indeed, it is a punishable offence under the law.

It is suggested that religious bodies should site their places of worship within approved layouts. Residential areas should not be used for place of worship. Secondly, sound proof technologies should be utilized to curb noise pollution. And finally, religious tolerance should be imbibed by all.

Mr. Joseph Arinju, an Akure-based legal practitioner.

Statutory intervention on the issue of noise pollution in Nigeria can be considered from the common law perspective. The common law intervention is through the actionable tort of nuisance.

Through a court action for nuisance an aggrieved person can obtain damages for injury suffered from the offensive noise and also injunction to stop any further emission of such noise.

See the case of Abiola vs. Ijoma, Tebite vs. Marine &Trading Co Ltd and in More vs. Nnado, the plaintiff sued, contending that the defendant has caused excessive to be emitted from his neighbour by playing music unreasonably loudly until late every night. The Court held that the defendant was liable to the defendant for constituting nuisance.

Law is the system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties. for example, “Shooting the birds is against the law”.

Many people may not recognize that the church is older than the nation state. The first government was provided by the church and presided over by the Pope.

The 1999 Constitution is the supreme Law in Nigeria and it stipulates in section 10 that, “no state should introduce any religion” as state religion. However, in section 38 of the same Constitution, there is guarantee of freedom of thought, conscience and religion including freedom to practice your religion in private or public places.

Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution guarantee to every citizen privacy of their homes, correspondence, telephone conversation and telegraph communication.

Noise intrusion into the homes or office of citizens can be construed as a form of violation of their rights to privacy. When a land owner or occupier’s activity seriously and persistently violates his/her neighbor’s enjoyment of their property, he/she is said to constitute a nuisance to such neighbours and such culprit can be sued for damages.

However, where the occupier’s/owner activity is within the provisions of the law, such occupier’s or owner is free from violation of the right to privacy.

Please note, if you build your house in an industrial area, you have no right to complain about noise pollution or nuisance.