By Our Correspondent <\/p>\n
Supervisory Bishop and Chairman of the Delta State Bishops Forum of the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star (BCS), Archbishop Ifiokabasi Udo, has called on Christians to reject retaliation in the face of violence and terrorism, urging them instead to respond with love, forgiveness and Christ-like conduct.<\/p>\n
Speaking during an interaction with journalists at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Warri Chapel, on Saturday, Archbishop Udo said Christians must remain true to the teachings of Jesus Christ, stressing that violence and revenge are not compatible with the Christian faith.<\/p>\n
According to him, fighting back against terrorism would only perpetuate cycles of violence and deny society lasting peace. <\/p>\n
He noted that Jesus Christ did not encourage retaliation, recalling how Christ rebuked Peter for attempting to use force during His arrest.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you say you are a Christian, you are a follower of Christ,\u201d the Archbishop said. \u201cChrist did not call for retaliation. Fighting is not of Christ. If you fight back, there will be no peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Archbishop Udo, who was accompanied by the State Financial Secretary, Bishops Forum, Bishop Olomu Jones, and Bishop Davies Obong, further explained that the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star consistently emphasises genuine love and the brotherhood of humanity over denominational divisions, adding that Christians are called to live as Christ lived. <\/p>\n
He cited instances in northern Nigeria where churches were spared during attacks because some Christians demonstrated Christ\u2019s love by fostering peaceful coexistence, including worshipping alongside Muslims in mosques.<\/p>\n
He described insurgency and terrorism as fulfilment of biblical prophecies, but maintained that the Christian response must remain anchored in love, forgiveness and unwavering faith.<\/p>\n
Earlier in his address to journalists, the Archbishop reaffirmed the commitment of the Delta State Bishops Forum, under the spiritual leadership of His Holiness Olumba Olumba Obu, to continued collaboration with the NUJ, Warri Chapel, in promoting messages of love, faith and hope through responsible journalism.<\/p>\n
As part of this commitment, he formally invited members of the NUJ to the Delta State Bishops Forum Maiden Conference and Retreat scheduled for March 2026. <\/p>\n
He said the event would focus on spiritual renewal, dialogue and strategic engagement on the roles of faith, leadership and the media in nation-building.<\/p>\n
Archbishop Udo concluded by urging both the Church and the media to work together in speaking the truth in love, promoting peace and guiding society towards unity and moral renewal.<\/p>\n
Ends<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Our Correspondent Supervisory Bishop and Chairman of the Delta State Bishops Forum of the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star (BCS), Archbishop Ifiokabasi Udo, has called on Christians to reject retaliation in the face of violence and terrorism, urging them instead to respond with love, forgiveness and Christ-like conduct. Speaking during an interaction with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[3360,5639,177,222],"class_list":["post-9397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-religion","tag-fighting","tag-perpetuate-cycles","tag-terrorism","tag-violence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9397"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9399,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9397\/revisions\/9399"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}