Sealing of church: Respect constituted authorities, maintain peaceful co-existence, CAN urges Christians

Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Oyo State has urged Christians to always respect constituted authorities and maintain peaceful coexistence within their individual neighborhoods.

CAN Chairman in the state, Apostle Joshua Akinyemiju, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Sunday.

NAN reports that Akinyemiju spoke against the backdrop of the sealing of a branch of Christ Life Church at Golden Estate, Oluyole in Ibadan, by the state government on Thursday over alleged noise pollution.

Justifying the action, the Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr Abdulmojeed Mogbonjubola, had said that the measure was taken after several unresolved steps by the ministry to mediate among the complaints, residents and the church management had proved abortive.

He said that government was left with no option than to seal the church premises to avert escalation of the brewing tensions between the residents of the area and the church.

The CAN chairman, however, urged all faithful to always give necessary respect and support to constituted authorities and maintain good neighbourliness.

According to him, refusal to respect and obey constituted authorities is tantamount to lack of respect to the laws of God.

“The content of the press release issued by the commissioner showed that the ministry of environment, upon receipt of complaints from residents, took some steps to avert sanctioning the church.

“The ministry also set up a team that visited the area to confirm the complaints. During the visit, the team measured the pitch of noise as 74DB as against the 65DB allowed at daytime.

“Secondly, a meeting was convened by the ministry to amicably resolve the matter,” he said, adding “with the steps taken, it is obvious that the ministry followed due process.”

Akinyemiju, however, said that neither the church nor the ministry informed CAN about the development and the efforts made to resolve the issue.

“Ministry of environment holds stakeholders’ meetings from time to time and CAN is always represented at such meetings, which are meant to forestall this kind of situation,” he said.

According to the CAN chairman, no matter the situation, Christians are under the obligation of ensuring obedience to the authorities, since they are the ones responsible for the social wellbeing of citizens.

“For government and its agencies, they should know that CAN is the umbrella body for the defence and protection of the rights, welfare and privileges of Christians and Christianity in the state.

“Therefore, in matters like this, the association should be involved in order to ensure amicable resolution of any contending issue,” Akinyemiju said.