Founder of the David Christian Centre and popular relationship coach, Pastor Kingsley Okonkwo, has doubled down on his decision to get a tattoo, saying there is no scripture that says a child of God cannot have a tattoo.

The cleric’s decision to get a tattoo reading “3:16” in Roman numerals, a reference to John 3:16 in the Bible, sparked controversy on social media.

His action was condemned by netizens who cited Leviticus 19:28, a Bible passage that reads, “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord.”

Dismissing the argument against his decision, Pastor Okonkwo said in an interview, “There’s no scripture that says a child of God cannot have tattoo. So, people are (just) doing personal preference, or what the Holy Spirit told them, or their church’s preferences. They want to impose this on other people, and that’s not how this works. Everyone needs to know Christ and the word of God.

“Somebody needs to sit me down and say tattoos are bad because if somebody draws ink on their body, their brain goes bad; if somebody draws ink on their body, their character suddenly goes bad. They must give me scriptural or scientific proof, or something to back this up.”

“Nobody can tell me why tattoo is bad. It’s just bad because… no reason. This kind of thinking is saddening for me because how is Africa going to catch up with development if we are still thinking ‘oh, somebody wore jeans and went to rob, so jeans are now bad. Pastor cannot wear jeans because last week somebody wore jeans and went to rob a bank’. What are we talking about? So, I don’t see the basis.”

Eyebrows are tattoos, my critics do them – Kingsley Okonkwo
Further, Okonkwo stated that while tattoos may be associated with bad people, he could name 10 good people with tattoos.

“It’s the same reason why some people don’t want to go into politics. They say politics is for bad people. So, we have left it for the people we think are dirty. So, who is going to go there? That has been the mindset of the church. We avoid everything that looks bad, and then we complain,” he said.

In a TikTok video, Okonkwo descended on critics of his decision, reminding them of the questionable things they also do.

He said, “Today I’m seeing Christian girls buying human hair and wearing it to church, and they are typing on tattoo while wearing another human being’s hair.

“You don’t know the origin of Christianity in Nigeria. Go and ask the older people who are sincere, they will tell you that even your makeup was a sin just a few years ago… was sacrilege, taboo, evil.

“Today, I see people do eyebrow. You don’t know that eyebrow is tattoo? Are you not painting? If you are painting eyebrows, it is tattoo. Some people even do microblading. Is it not tattoo? It’s a form of tattoo.

“Do you know that there was a time, if you didn’t tie a scarf, you couldn’t go to church. Some of you didn’t know this. Who fought for that liberty you enjoy?

“There were times you couldn’t wear earrings, such that once you gave your life to Jesus, you threw away your earrings and all your jewellery. Some of you didn’t know these things, but today you are typing. I pity the level of ignorance you are carrying,

“There were times you couldn’t wear jeans in this body of Christ. I was here when you couldn’t wear jeans. Do you wear jeans? Oh, you are leading many astray.

“Some people are saying tattoo is leading people astray. I say jeans were leading people astray a few years ago, today we are wearing them. Do you wear jeans? Ungodly garment.”

Those who cut themselves are demon-possessed
In an old sermon sighted by our correspondent, Pastor Steven Anderson of Faithful Works Baptist Church in Arizona, USA. stated that tattoos, which involve cutting oneself, are similar to what demon-possessed people did in the Bible.

“Everybody who cuts themselves in the Bible is demon-possessed. And today, we see high schoolers by the thousands and millions cutting themselves,” Pastor Anderson said.

He then addressed those who love to claim that the law against tattoos is in the Old Testament and is no longer relevant. He did this by citing the next verse after the one against tattoos in Leviticus, which reads, “Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.”

According to him, if their understanding is relevant, it means people can now go ahead and prostitute their daughters.

Our correspondent also found a YouTube sermon by Pastor Aaron Thompson explaining why tattoos are bad.

During a sermon at Strong Tower Baptist Church in the US, he said, “Tattoo is a heathen practice that has been going on since Noah got off the ark, basically. They’ve found mummies and people in ice in different places that had tattoos on them. People have been doing this heathen practice for a long time. It’s connected to religion; it’s connected to cannibalism; it’s connected to head hunting. There’s nothing good about tattoos.”

-Guardian

A Headline on the Punch Newspaper on Monday, the 3rd of November, 2025 “CPC blacklist: 12 Nigerian governors, other officials may face US sanctions” has really captured my attention.

On Friday, Trump, in a post on Truth, lamented that thousands of Christians were being killed in Nigeria and asked Congressman Riley Moore, together with Chairman Tom Cole and the House Appropriations Committee, to immediately look into the matter and report back to him.

The Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, sponsored by Republican Senator Ted Cruz, designates Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” for religious persecution.

The bill proposes direct sanctions against public officials and religious authorities accused of promoting or tolerating violence against Christians and other religious minorities

Trump is simply saying there are killings in Nigeria, which is true.

Stop it, and that ends it.

Under whatever bill it may be, Trump is right and it is long overdue.

For quite some time now, the people of Nigeria, particularly the vulnerable, have series of attacks, killings, kidnappings, raping, maiming and their cattle rustled due to negligence of our leaders, especially the governors who deceive people during their electioneering campaigns to bring an end to the massacre of their citizens, but without any tangible efforts or evidence to show the fulfillment of these campaign promises.

Rather, these governors concentrate on looting the public Treasurys purchasing mansions in various locations both within and outside our fatherland, leaving the citizens in abject poverty, hunger, diseases, illiteracy and inaccessible clean drinking water

I am so much delighted by the Trump’s action in sanctioning these types of governors and officials of government perpetrating these crimes, while bandits and terrorists continue to massacre their people in their hundreds.

These Twelve northern governors, prominent traditional rulers, and senior judges are at the centre of a looming diplomatic storm as the United States Congress considers a bill that could impose far-reaching sanctions on them over alleged complicity in what American lawmakers describe as a “Christian genocide” and systemic persecution under Nigeria’s sharia and blasphemy laws.

It is against this background the I strongly call on the US President Donald Trump to focus his mission on those governors, particularly in northern Nigeria where insecurity is in its highest peak.

I will also want to draw Trump’s attention to reality on ground, as it is not religious persecution, but rather neglect and carelessness of these governors, amidst high level corruption.

Zamfara state for instance, the Gov, Dauda Lawal promised the people that he would tackle insecurity bedivelling the state, immediately he assumed office if elected as governor of the state, but two years on, the situation became the worst ever.

Gov Dauda Lawal who was a brother In-laws to the US Christmas bomber now serving 4 live improvement sentences should be put under watch by the Trump administration. Several None- governmental organisations and human rights agencies had severally called on the US government to investigate Dauda Lawal, as he was accused of helping the Christmas bomber to escape legal action after he was arrested for the terrorism offence in the US.

Now that he is a Gov in one the northern Nigerian states with high magnitude of banditry, he is also being accused of hiring repentant Boko Haram terrorists and equips them with sophisticated weapons, killing innocent citizens should be sanctioned by the United States government.

How long will we continue to pretend not to see? How long will we bury our heads in the sand while innocent lives are snuffed out in broad daylight?

This conspiracy of silence is not just dangerous, also deadly. The blood of our fellow Nigerians cries out from the soil, in Zamfara, Katsina, Borno, Plateau, Benue, Ondo, Madalla, the figure and facts are on record, yet we continue to act like all is well.

Every Nigerian regardless of tribe, religion, or region deserves equal protection, equal dignity, and the fundamental right to exist. These are not privileges, but are non-negotiable rights.

Now that we have the attention of the United States government, It is time for the Nigerian government to stop the charade. No more empty speeches. No more denial. No more games.

The massacre of citizens must end. The people must not be displaced from their ancestral homes for any guise whatsoever.

Leadership is not about optics, it is about action. Rise to your responsibility. Protect your people. Silence the guns, not the truth.

The sanctions, to be implemented under Executive Order 13818, the US government’s Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability framework, could result in visa bans, asset freezes, and financial restrictions for those found culpable.

The affected states include Zamfara, Kano, Sokoto, Katsina, Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa, Kebbi, Yobe, Kaduna, Niger, and Gombe.

The Nigerian government should just take advantage of this opportunity and stamp its foot to correct where there is wrong; stamp its foot to speak the language of unity, stamp its foot to tell those who have been hiding under religion to torment fellow citizens that they no longer have a space in Nigeria.

“Boko Haram and ISWAP remain proscribed under the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, with thousands of arrests, prosecutions, and deradicalisation programmes underway,” it added.

The government said many attacks often framed internationally as “religious” were instead rooted in terrorism, organised crime, resource conflict, and climate stress, adding that federal and state authorities deployed joint operations without bias to faith identity.

“Nigerian authorities consistently condemn sectarian violence, open investigations, and prosecute offenders where evidence meets the legal threshold,” the document stressed.

Nigeria reaffirmed its adherence to international human rights obligations, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, domesticated and enforceable in Nigerian courts.

The government emphasised that all domestic laws, federal or state, must conform to these superior guarantees, and Nigerian courts have consistently upheld that principle in their judgments.

The government criticised the US draft legislation proposing a CPC designation for Nigeria, describing it as “legally and factually flawed.”

In designating Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern,” Trump cited alleged severe violations of religious freedom, particularly the persecution of Christians. He claimed that Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria, with thousands of Christians being killed by radical Islamists.

Trump warned that the US would take action, including potential military intervention, if Nigeria didn’t address the issue.

The US President also threatened to halt all aid and assistance to Nigeria should the Tinubu administration fail to end the alleged persecution and killing of Christians.

Daniel Kingsley is a Public and Security Affairs Commentator, based in Lagos – Nigeria

‎Renowned international evangelist and founder of the Uma Ukpai Evangelistic Association, Rev. Dr. Uma Ukpai, has passed on. He was aged 80.

‎

‎Ministry sources on X (formerly Twitter), including Monye Morris, confirmed that the revered cleric passed away in Lagos, marking the end of an era for one of Nigeria’s most influential Christian leaders and evangelists.

‎

‎Dr. Uma Ukpai, who served the body of Christ for decades, was widely respected for his deep faith, powerful healing crusades, and unflinching commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

‎

‎His ministry, which spanned continents, brought salvation, healing, and hope to millions across Nigeria and beyond.

‎

‎Born in Abia State, Rev. Ukpai rose to national prominence in the 1970s and 1980s through his dynamic preaching and miracle crusades that drew thousands. He was also one of the founding fathers of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), a body that united Pentecostal and Charismatic churches across the nation to promote revival and spiritual growth.

‎

‎

‎-Leadership