For allegedly defacing and constituting environmental nuisance to its built environment, the Lagos State Government has shut down the headquarters of the Lord’s Chosen and Charismatic Revival Church located in Ijesha on Oshodi-Apapa Expressway in Lagos.

It was gathered that officials of the Ministry of the Environment shut down the church and prevented the worshippers from having their service usually attended by thousands of Chosen’s faithful. Our correspondent also gathered that the state government was miffed by the way the church had been defacing and degrading the environment and refusing to abate the nuisance even after it had been served abatement notice to upgrade the environment in the area.
To avert further abuse of its environment, the officials of the environment ministry, accompanied by police officers went to the church on Sunday morning and shut down the church, pending when the authorities of the church will abate the nuisance in their environment.
Confirming the closure, the Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello, said the church had committed lots of environmental abuse which it must abate before the massive edifice could be re-opened by the government. He said such illegality could not be tolerated by the state government, adding that the church did not have proper waste management system.
Bello also said the church cultivated the habit of burning its refuse inside the church, an action which ran foul of the environmental and sanitation law of the state. He said the church despite its gigantic size, did not have toilets and waste disposal facilities as they empty their excreta into the drainage channel and built attachments on the drainage channel. The commissioner said the church, founded by Pastor Lazarus Mouka, who serves as the General Overseer of the Charismatic Revival Movement, does not have proper sanitary system , adding that they discharge their wastes into the canal.