Anti-Christian Militant Group Boko Haram Reportedly Kills Nigerian Pastor

By Herbert Pinnock, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, October 18, 2011

A Nigerian evangelist appears to be the latest victim of the anti-Christian Islamic militant group Boko Haram, according to a new report.

According to Compass Direct News (CDN), Christians in Borno State, Nigeria, have once again been confronted with the news that another Christian has been killed by Boko Haram, only three months following the killing of a Maiduguri pastor, the Rev. David Usman, 45, who was shot along with Hamman Andrew, a church secretary, in an area of Maiduguri called the Railway Quarters.

Boko Haram, which is committed to fighting against the influence of the West, is a Nigerian Islamist group which seeks the imposition of Shariah law in the northern state of Nigeria.

CDN said that Mark Ojunta, 36, an evangelist from southern Nigeria was ministering amid the Kotoko people of Nigeria's northeastern state with Calvary Ministries (CAPRO) when he was shot on Aug. 27 in Maiduguri.

Boko Haram has reportedly killed at least 23 Christians in the month of August alone, beginning on Aug. 11 through the 15 where attacks in Rasta Foron village resulted in six dead, and on Aug. 15, in Heipang village, where nine members of one Christian family were killed.

These deaths were followed by the murder of six Christians on Aug. 21 in Kwi, lotion, and Jwol villages, and, on Aug. 14, in the community of Chwelnyap, two more were killed at the hands of militants.

CAPRO had learned that its entire staff working among the Shuwa Arab, Kotoko, and Kanuri peoples were on a Boko Haram’s list of people to be killed, and decided to evacuate them. Ojunta had returned to teach a class after the evacuation of his family.

Ironically, four days before his death, Ojunta had received an invitation to transfer from his post with the Kotoko people and take a position at CAPRO's International office in London, but he declined.

The evangelist is reportedly being celebrated as a martyr by the Kotokos. Ojunta is survived by his wife and two children.