Nigerian church for the deaf offers people a sense of community

To the beat of drums, the congregation at a church in Lagos worship using sign language.

It is a branch of the Christian Mission for the Deaf, a church for deaf and mute people in Somolu, a mixed-income suburb in Nigeria's largest city.

Remi Akinremi is one of the pastors at the church. Every Sunday, he mounts the pulpit with charismatic energy to preach to the dozens in the congregation.

It is offering them a sense of community in a society where the perception of people with disabilities is influenced by traditional beliefs or is even seen as a divine punishment.

"African society believed that deafness or blindness or any disability was a curse, so they took people to churches or fetish priests looking for a miracle, but it doesn’t work like that. The fact we can communicate with our hands, sign language is the miracle itself," says Akinremi.

Started in 1956 during the colonial period, the church has a teaching unit for sign language and also serves as a learning centre, which Akinremi says is vital to help deaf people understand the world better.

Members of the church say it has gone beyond just a religious gathering for the minority group.

“The church has great importance for us, the deaf, because with it we come to know Christ, and it also provides us with a community for people like ourselves, whereas before we were living in isolation with our families,” he says.

It is estimated that over 9 million of Nigeria’s 232 million citizens are deaf or living with hearing impairment.