Bandits slaughtered Pastor Hills for attempting to escape – Survivor narrates harrowing experience

Pastor Gabriel Joseph Dipak, who was abducted along with Hills on Friday, August 28, 2026, narrated how Pastor Emmanuel Hills, a Ghanaian-Nigerian cleric based in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State, was butchered by Fulani bandits after he tried to escape from captivity.

Hills, former pastor of the Dunamis Church and founder of The Wonderful Grace of God Evangelical Ministry, and Dipak, a pastor of the Christ Apostolic Church, were kidnaped while traveling from Jos to Bokkos with other passengers.

They were stopped at a roadblock set up by Fulani militants on the Barkin Ladi-Bokkos Road.

They were singled out and taken captive, while the other passengers, including Hills’ wife, were robbed and allowed to leave, Dipak said.

Dipak, who described to the harrowing experience leading to Hills’ murder, said: “The Ghanaian-born pastor tried to escape from the bandits but they chased him.”

When they caught him, he said, they stabbed him several times, and then held him down and slaughtered him like a goat is slaughtered.

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The bandits told me that I was lucky I was not a Berom or Mwaghavul man, as they would have killed me immediately,” Dipak said in a video interview with conflict journalist, Masara Kim Usman.

“It was Friday after a program and we were coming from Jos to Bokkos.

“I had not known Pastor Emmanuel Hills until that time but when we got talking and introduced ourselves, I discovered that he was also a man of God who was based in Bokkos,” Dipak said.

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He continued:

“We were heading for an intersection leading to Bokkos around 9 pm when we met a roadblock. We saw flashlights on the lonely road, and I knew they were no soldiers.

The driver, trying to drive past the obstacles, was confronted by four heavily armed men who came out of the bush shouting “Allahu Akbar.” “We immediately identified them as Fulani militiamen. They held up the driver, guns and machetes on us.

When the vehicle stopped, they ordered all the occupants to the ground and began to rob us. As soon as they found out that Pastor Hills and I were men of God, they singled us out and told the other passengers to get back in the vehicle. Then they ordered the driver to go.

“They told us they were Fulani people and we had been kidnaped. We were marching toward the hills around us and Pastor Hills tried to run but they caught him.

‘When they caught him they started stabbing him. Then they slaughtered him as you would slaughter a goat. They were even bragging and joking about how Hills fought before he died. He was dead in two minutes.

“We walked for hours and came to their camp in the hills and they bound my hands and told me they had been tracking my movement from Jos and they had orders to kill me,” he said.

“They asked me what tribe I was and when I told them, they told me I was lucky I was not Mwaghavul or Berom or they would have killed me without blinking.

“I was released the next evening after my wife and some family members were contacted and they managed to arrange the ransom for my release,” Dipak said.
Ozokwor spoke to wealthy parents who leave their children with many properties without teaching them the value of hard work and the sacrifices that go into acquiring such wealth.
She gave the example of a parent who owns several houses in different cities, saying children may grow up without knowing how hard it was for their parents to buy the properties.
“When they don’t struggle, can you imagine that you have like 20 houses? You have it in Enugu, you have it in Aba, you have it in Lagos. Your children will just be struggling, “Which one belongs to me? They don’t know how hard you worked to get those things,” she said. Travel Guides & Travelogs

The actress advised parents to let their children work for what they want, making sure they understand that comfort and privilege should not be taken for granted.

Ozokwor also advised parents to expose their children to some of life’s challenges so that they would