The Lagos State Government says plans are on to register religious houses, to ensure sanity in the state.
The Commissioner, Lagos State Ministry of Home Affairs, Mrs Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, made this known on Tuesday in Alausa, Ikeja, during a Stakeholders Meeting with the Nigeria Inter-religious Council (NIREC).
Akinbile-Yussuf said that the registration, which was supposed to kick-start by mid-2020, would help to fish out worship centres that were being used to perpetrate evil in the state.
She said that having a database of all religious bodies in the state would enable ease of reference, as well as ensure effective communication.
“We need to know our number, then we can know what we need, we can know where we belong, we can know what we are doing.
“So, we are coming up with the registration forms and we need your cooperation as religious bodies that represent us at the local government level.
“We will ensure that we have it on a platform that will be automated, then you can do it anywhere, it is not compulsory that you come to Alausa for the registration,” the commissioner said.
She said that once the platform was ready, religious bodies would be trained on how to use it for registration and at no cost.
Akinbile-Yussuf said that the purpose was to have easy access to Churches and Mosques in order for them to benefit from government programmes.
She said that the Ministry of Home Affairs would collaborate with the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources through the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), to eradicate noise pollution emanating from places of worship throughout the state.
She said that Lagos could only be a 21st Century economy if there was good environment devoid of noise pollution.
“We want to charge NIREC officials to ensure that they promote a good environment by addressing all complaints by communities over noise pollution,” she said.
Akinbile-Yussuf also charged religious bodies to continue to ensure peaceful co-existence, as well as eschew violence and acts that could lead to wanton destruction of lives and property.
According to her, religious bodies should help the government in community policing by monitoring, preaching, lecturing and praying against criminal acts in the state.
She said that the ministry would embark on training and retraining of religious leaders, in order to ensure the development and inclusive governance in the state.
The commissioner called on the local government chairmen to carry NIREC along in their quest for a better Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that NIREC members had earlier complained to the commissioner that the local government chairmen were not collaborating with the council.
