RismadarVoice Reporters
September 3, 2026
A pastor abducted by suspected bandits along the Barkin Ladi-Bokkos Road in Plateau State has recounted how the kidnappers killed his colleague after he attempted to escape.
Pastor Gabriel Joseph Dipak of the Christ Apostolic Church said he and Pastor Emmanuel Hills, a Ghanaian-Nigerian cleric and founder of The Wonderful Grace of God Evangelical Ministry, were abducted on August 28 while travelling from Jos to Bokkos.
Speaking in a video interview with conflict journalist Masara Kim Usman, Dipak said the two clerics were singled out after armed men reportedly mounted a roadblock and stopped their vehicle.
According to him, the other passengers, including Hills’ wife, were robbed and allowed to leave, while the two pastors were taken into the surrounding hills.
Dipak said Hills attempted to escape while they were being marched to the kidnappers’ hideout but was pursued and captured.
“When he was caught, they began stabbing him. They then proceeded to slaughter him like you would slaughter a goat,” Dipak said.
He said Hills was killed within minutes, adding that the kidnappers allegedly mocked him as he struggled.
Dipak said the kidnappers subsequently took him to their camp, where they tied his hands and told him they had been monitoring his movements from Jos.
“They asked me my tribe, and when I told them, they said I was lucky I was not Mwaghavul or Berom, or else they would have slaughtered me without thinking twice,” he said.
The survivor said he was released the following evening after the kidnappers contacted his wife and family, who arranged the ransom demanded for his freedom.
Dipak said the incident began when the vehicle carrying the passengers approached an intersection leading to Bokkos at about 9 p.m.
He recalled that armed men emerged from the bush after the driver attempted to manoeuvre around obstacles on the road.
“They pointed guns and machetes at us, forcing the driver to stop,” he said.
Dipak said the attackers ordered all passengers to lie on the ground and robbed them before identifying him and Hills as Christian clerics and taking them captive.
He said the experience left him traumatised and highlighted the dangers faced by travellers along the route.
