US pastor driven to tears at wedding for daughter of clergyman beheaded by Boko Haram

A New York City pastor attended the wedding of the daughter of a Nigerian pastor who was beheaded by the terrorist group Boko Haram in 2020 and called on Christians in the United States to stand with their persecuted brethren. 

Pastor William Devlin, who serves as missions pastor of Infinity Bible Church in South Bronx and operates the ministries REDEEM! and Widows and Orphans, told The Christian Post that he and human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe traveled to attend the wedding of Agnes Andimi and Gabriel Egwurube at St. Peter's Parish in Makurdi, Benue State. 

The wedding comes nearly four years after Andimi's father, Rev. Lawan Andimi, the former chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria's chapter in the Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa State, was executed by Boko Haram militants in January 2020, just weeks after his abduction.

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The father of nine made international headlines earlier in the month when he praised God in a ransom video released by the extremists. 

In one particularly touching moment, Devlin and Ogebe were invited to take a picture with Andimi's family when it was time to take photos after the wedding ceremony. Devlin recalled that he became so emotional over this that he wept. 

"I cried at that when we both had the honor to stand in the gap for the martyred pastor, invited by his widowed wife and his daughter and the groom," Devlin said. 

The pastor said that he has known of Andimi's wife, Mary, since Boko Haram beheaded her husband. He met her through what he called a Jesus Healing Trauma Gathering, a program that he started with Ogebe two years ago.

Devlin and Ogebe have conducted the program in various cities, including the Plateau State. Through the connections that Ogebe has, they invite victims of terror to work with them on healing from trauma. 

Devlin said that he noticed other pastors associated with CAN, an umbrella organization consisting of various Christian denominations in the country, were not present at the wedding, nor were any other American pastors. He questioned why other faith leaders were not present at the event in honor of a high-profile pastor who had been martyred. 

After the wedding, Devlin and Ogebe attended the 12th anniversary of the 2011 Christmas Day bombing of St. Theresa's Church in Madalla that led to the deaths of 37 people. The Islamist militant group Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the attack. 

Another attack targeted Christians during this past Christmas season. Terrorists believed to be extremists among Fulani Muslim herdsmen killed nearly 200 people and injured 300 from Dec. 23 through Christmas in a coordinated attack on multiple villages in predominantly Christian areas in the Plateau State. 

According to Ogebe, the Nigerian government has "failed" for decades to protect its citizens, claiming that sources told him that the military had a 12-hour notice of the impending attack. 

Ogebe declared the Nigerian government's efforts must "go beyond talk," calling on the current administration to "fish out the killers." The human rights lawyer also noted that the deaths of Christians during the Christmas massacre did not appear to have prompted the same outrage as the deaths of Christians in Gaza. 

"The world is not paying attention to Nigeria when innocents are being macheted and burned alive," Ogebe said. 

According to estimates in an April 2023 report by the nongovernmental organization International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, 5,068 Christians were killed in Nigeria in 2022, while more than 3,000 Christians were abducted. 

Devlin, who won a Purple Heart for his military service in Vietnam, has traveled the globe to stand in solidarity with persecuted Christian communities. Last December, he was presented with the President's Volunteer Service Award by the President's White House Council on Service and Civic Participation. 

"It's really been our passion to be physically with the persecuted church, not just to pray for them, not just to give money to organizations, but to be physically present," Devlin said about why he and Ogebe attended the wedding.