Tuesday, March 11, 2025 - Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, has clarified that he banned noise pollution and not evangelism
He made the clarification amid the backlash he received after a video of
him confronting an unidentified street preacher in a market last Saturday went
viral
In the footage, the governor ordered the preacher to stop causing a
disturbance, reminding him of the law against noise pollution. He advised him
to take his preaching to a church or a designated space, warning that violators
risked a fine of N500,000.
Reacting to the backlash he received, the governor in a statement signed
by the state Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor, dismissed claims of
banning evangelism, insisting that Soludo’s remarks had been misinterpreted.
“The Anambra State Government wishes to address the misconstrued reports
surrounding Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s recent encounter with an itinerant
preacher at Onitsha Market.
The governor’s remarks were wrongly interpreted as a ban on evangelism,
whereas his concern was solely about noise pollution, which is prohibited under
an existing public health law.”
Mefor explained that Soludo was enforcing the Anambra State Public
Health Law 2006, which prohibits excessive noise in public places, including
markets.
“To clarify, the governor referenced the
Public Health Law 2006, which forbids noise pollution and preaching in
inappropriate places like markets using loudspeakers. He advised preachers to
conduct their activities in churches or designated locations where people can
willingly participate without disrupting others’ daily activities,” the
statement added
The commissioner further cited past legal
actions on the issue, noting that in 2019, a magistrate’s court in Nnewi upheld
the law against a church that violated noise pollution regulations.
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