The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced the future site of the Eket Nigeria Temple, to be the country’s fourth. This announcement comes just 15 days after a seventh Nigerian house of the Lord was announced for Uyo.
Plans for the Eket temple call for a one-story structure of approximately 18,850 square feet, with a meetinghouse on the site.
According to the site map, this house of the Lord will be built on a 7-acre site on Eket/Oron Road in Ikot Ibiok, Eket Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.
The site was first announced Tuesday, April 22, on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. More information for the temple, including a future groundbreaking date, will be released later.
The Church in Nigeria
Church President Russell M. Nelson announced the Eket Nigeria Temple on Oct. 2, 2022, during the October 2022 general conference.
Nigeria is currently home to just one house of the Lord, the Aba Nigeria Temple, dedicated Aug. 7, 2005, by the late Church President Gordon B. Hinckley.
Two temples are planned to break ground next month, the Lagos Nigeria Temple, scheduled for a May 10 groundbreaking, and the Benin City Nigeria Temple, for May 24.
Three additional temples are currently in planning stages, in Calabar (announced in 2023), Abuja (2024) and Uyo (2025).
The Church of Jesus Christ was officially established in Nigeria in 1978. Less than 10 years later, membership approached 10,000 in 1987.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles organized the Aba Nigeria Stake on May 15, 1988, the first in West Africa.
By the time of the Aba temple dedication in 2005, an estimated 70,000 Church members lived in the country. Today, Nigeria is home to more than 250,000 Latter-day Saints in 840 congregations.
