Pastor Gabriel Joseph Dipak, who was abducted by Fulani bandits on Friday, August 28, 2026, along with Pastor Emmanuel Hills, a Ghanaian-Nigerian cleric based in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State, has narrated how the kidnappers slaughtered Hills after he attempted to escape.
Dipak, a pastor with the Christ Apostolic Church, was abducted alongside Hills, a former Dunamis Church pastor and founder of The Wonderful Grace of God Evangelical Ministry, while they were travelling from Jos to Bokkos with other passengers.
They ran into a roadblock mounted by Fulani militants along the Barkin Ladi-Bokkos Road.
According to Dipak, the armed men singled him and Hills out and took them captive, while the other passengers, including Hills’ wife, were robbed and allowed to leave.
Dipak, who narrated the experience in a video interview with conflict journalist Masara Kim Usman, said the incident occurred at about 9pm as they approached an intersection leading to Bokkos.
He said they saw flashlights on the lonely road and he immediately suspected that the people ahead were not soldiers.
According to him, as the driver attempted to manoeuvre past the obstacles, four heavily armed men emerged from the bush, shouting “Allahu Akbar,” before pointing guns and machetes at the vehicle and forcing the driver to stop.
Dipak said the attackers ordered all the occupants to lie on the ground and began robbing them.
He said the militants later realised that he and Hills were pastors and singled them out, ordering the other passengers to return to the vehicle while the driver was instructed to leave.
The attackers then told Dipak and Hills that they were Fulani people and that the two men had been kidnapped.
According to Dipak, while they were being marched towards the surrounding hills, Hills attempted to escape but was pursued by the bandits.
He said the kidnappers caught Hills and stabbed him several times before slaughtering him like a goat.
Dipak said Hills was killed within two minutes and that the attackers joked about his struggle before he died.
After killing Hills, the bandits trekked with Dipak for several hours before arriving at their camp in the hills.
He said the kidnappers tied his hands and told him they had been monitoring his movements from Jos and had received orders to kill him.
Dipak said the bandits asked about his tribe and, after he disclosed it, told him he was lucky not to be a Mwaghavul or Berom man, claiming they would have killed him immediately if he belonged to either group.
He was released the following evening after the kidnappers contacted his wife and family members, who were able to arrange the ransom for his release.
