As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to celebrate this year’s Valentine’s Day, Bishop Israel Alaya has urged youths to see the celebration as a time to spread agape love, and not as an excuse to engage in sexual immorality.

Alaya, who is the Presiding Bishop of Dominion Bible Church International, Quarry, Abeokuta, insisted that the celebration is not for fornication or adultery, stressing that it has been observed over the years that hotels are typically filled on Valentine’s Day.

He spoke on Saturday during a Valentine walk themed “Living in Purity is Possible.”

DAILY POST reports that the Bishop led youths armed with placards bearing messages such as: “Say no to Rape, Say no to Adultery, No to Flirting, No to Child Abuse, No to Drug Abuse, No to Cheating, Purity in Government, Purity in Education, Purity in Entertainment, No Sex Until Marriage” along major roads around Quarry, Post Office, and Panseke.

Alaya explained that the walk aimed to create awareness, particularly for youths, and to emphasize that their bodies are not for sale.

He said, “The notion over the years is that when Valentine comes, from all our research, it’s a time when all hotels are booked, a time when people want to take someone to a hotel or other secluded places to have an affair. God’s idea concerning sex is that it should be confined to marriage, and anything outside of marriage is not acceptable.”

“The aim of today’s purity walk is to let the world know that our bodies are not for sale. Our bodies are not for fornication, nor for adultery; rather, they are the temple of God. God wants to dwell in us, and that’s the idea of love. We need to ask questions like: what is the meaning of love? If love means taking our daughters to bed in hotels, then that is not the will of God. It cannot move a nation forward. But if we define love as agape, in other words God’s kind of love, then we would be blessed by Him.”

He urged parents to become close to their children and to have sensitive discussions in an atmosphere of care and love, arguing that it would help them open up and prevent them from being deceived.

“We all have a role to play. Parents should be close to their children; don’t allow anyone to use money to take them away from you and, at the end, corrupt their lives.”

The clergyman also called on Nigeria’s leaders and governments at all levels to ensure that justice is dispensed with the right conscience and in a timely manner.

He noted that despite international communities releasing names of individuals sponsoring terrorism in the country, authorities have still failed to prosecute them, calling on the federal government to act.

“To our leaders, they should understand that there is a need to truly demonstrate what love is. For instance, if I love people, I will not take up a gun and terrorize others. So we are calling on the government to ensure that justice is done. If people are involved in terrorism, which is a crime, they should be prosecuted. Other nations are pointing out individuals who sponsor terrorism, yet our leaders remain silent. We are calling on them to do the right thing,” the Bishop added.