The Lagos State Government, through the state Environmental Protection Agency, LASEPA, has closed the well-known Quilox nightclub in Victoria Island due to non-compliance with agency directives and scheduling events without having a sound control permit.
After getting many complaints from the neighbours, the agency and Lagos State Task Force together conducted the enforcement activity at around 4.30 p.m.
Dr. Dolapo Fasawe, general manager of LASEPA, confirmed the exercise and explained that it was necessary as a result of several distress calls and video evidence (s) that worried neighbours had made in support of their claims about alleged environmental nuisances created by the club without regard for the host community’s right to a peaceful environment.
According to Fasawe, “To avert situation like this, we recently held a stakeholder’s parley with the Owners/ Chief Executive Officers of night clubs in the state to address the issue of noise pollution during the festive period.
“The states in its magnality, compassionately increased the decibels to accommodate leisure/hospitality business interest.
“We urged them to apply for sound control permits to enable us reach out and notify the host community of the intended program and further deploy our officials to the venue for proper monitoring and prevention of excessive noise pollution.”
According to Fasawe, “invitation was extended to Quilox club, like every other stakeholders and was ignored by the club for reasons best known to them.”
She noted that no individual or group is bigger than the society and further harped on effort being made by her agency to ensure that all interest is protected under the law.
“Entertainment and Lagos are like a conjoined twin, thus our prolific intervention to preserve the sanctity of the state and at the same time sustain its economic relevance through aggressive environmental sustainability drive.
“To support the entrepreneurship interest of the operators, we had an agreement at the stakeholder’s parley, came up with a communique which serves as a bond guiding all parties on mode of operations during the yuletide period and consequences inherent in non compliance to environmental mutual agreement, ” Fasawe said.