Give Christians Land to Build Churches: Catholic Bishop in Nigeria to Government

Sokoto, 03 July, 2023 / 9:45 PM

Nigeria’s Federal Government needs to facilitate Christians’ acquisition of land for building places of worship, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of Nigeria’s Sokoto Diocese has said. 

Speaking to journalists after celebrating Holy Mass for the opening of the 119 Nigerian Airforce (NAF) Composite Group Catholic Chaplaincy in Sokoto State, Bishop Kukah said government establishments in Africa’s most populous country have been breaching the law on religious freedom. 

“You will believe that in some parts of this country where there is such federal government presence, people are unnecessarily nervous about giving Christians land to build their church,” the Bishop said Sunday, July 2. 

He said, “Nigerians should not be begging for this section of the law to be enforced.”

“We are not even asking the Federal Government to give us money to build these Churches (Protestants and Catholics), in some places, but all we are saying is that they should give us the land and we will go ahead and build our Church.”

In its latest Religious Freedom Report 2023, the Catholic charity foundation, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), listed Nigeria among countries in Africa where Christians are persecuted the most.

“Religious freedom in Nigeria is under grave threat, principally as a consequence of legal measures that support the discrimination against Christians in the northern states as well as severe and relentless atrocities committed throughout the country,” ACN says in the report. 

In his July 2 press conference, Bishop Kukah urged Christians in Nigeria to be optimistic that God listens to them amid their challenges.