SOKODE, APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE of. - It is situated in French Togo and was erected on 18 May 1937 from the northern territory of the apostolic vicariate of Togo, which on 14 June 1938 was Lomé (v.).
The first religious exploration of the north was carried out by German missionaries in 1898, but only in 1912 was the area assigned to missionaries by a German imperial decree. The following year the first mission station was opened at Aledjo. During the First World War the German missionaries were deported, and only in 1927 were the French missionaries of the Society of African Missions able to return in order to resume their apostolic work at Aledjo. In 1929 the station of Sokode was erected, followed by other stations. The first nuns arrived in 1939. It has an area of 29,000 sq. km., with a tropical climate and rather infertile soil. Civilly, it comprises the districts of S. and Mango. The inhabitants number approximately 500,000, divided into eleven principal races, themselves subdivided into smaller groups. They are animists and believe in God, creator of all things, and in the afterlife. Catholics number approximately 6,000. Missionaries 14, nuns 8, catechists 71, teachers 29. Principal stations 9, secondary stations 94, churches 5, chapels 70.