Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has arrested a pastor for preaching in a market place.
Though the governor later released the preacher, he contended that the act constituted noise pollution.
He also banned open gospel preaching in the state, saying that everyone’s religion deserved to be respected and not coerced into another, or others using their to trouble the people.
Soludo made this known in a market in Onitsha in a viral video that is already circulating on the social media space, where he confronted a preacher in a market.
The governor warned the preacher to desist from the act, stating that it contravenes the law.
He emphasised that one cannot exercise their fundamental rights by disturbing others with noise pollution.
He said: “If you want to preach, go to your church and preach. You can’t come to the open market to disturb others in the name of preaching.
“Go to your church and preach, and those who are interested will come there and listen to you. You can’t come to a market place and start to disturb everybody. You can’t do that. It’s pollution.
“We have freedom of religion and we protect such rights, but you can’t come to an open market where everybody is trading and start to disturb. We can’t allow.”
He warned that failure to comply would result in arrest and a possible fine of N500,000.
Soludo added that the government is not only cleansing the state of fake native doctors but also fake prophets.