ACN Nigeria Project Visit – Day 2
It’s been a hot night here in Sokoto and so getting sleep wasn’t easy but, feeling refreshed after a breakfast of eggs, fruit and Nescafe in the pastoral centre, we met with some of catechists that serve Sokoto diocese. Sokoto has 70 catechists and they do vital work supporting the clergy in preparing people – especially the youth – for the Sacraments. The catechists’ leader describes their role as “grass-roots evangelisers. Where a priest cannot be, the catechist is there.” Many of the catechists have faced threats.
One, Tobias Yahaya, 36, described how he was at home one night with his wife and four young children when extremists broke in and stabbed him in the chest. When one of the militants lunged forward to strike him again, Tobias grabbed him by the arm and raised the alarm. Later in hospital, doctors said that when he was stabbed the knife was but inches away from major arteries and he was lucky to survive. The case went to court where it turned out that Tobias’s attackers knew full well he was a catechist and were bent on punishing him from witnessing to Christ. Tobias told me that it took him three months to recover and he was terrified of going back. He was painfully aware that he was immediately identifiable in his catechist’s bright purple cassock. He told me: “I have prayed about this with my wife and children and we are determined for me to continue as a catechist… Sometimes, when I put on my cassock, I am afraid but I stand on my feet because of my faith… We will do whatever it takes to share our faith.”
Tobias’s honesty, faith and courage were very inspiring. He went on to thank ACN, explaining that he was aware how the charity funds the training of catechists at the pastoral centre in Malumfashi, further south in neighbouring Katsina diocese. Later I was to see Tobias again in Sokoto’s Holy Family Cathedral, where Bishop Kukah celebrated Mass. The Gospel of the day could not have been more apt: ‘Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.’ The bishop later said: “I have never ceased to marvel at the spirit of ACN. From the lives of ordinary people come extraordinary things. Those who support the charity are making huge sacrifices for the love of Christ. This urges us on.” And so it’s farewell to Sokoto and onto our next destination.