#Nigeria – The body of Hills Emmanuel was recovered on Saturday, 29 August 2026, near the site where he and another pastor had been taken the previous day on a road in Plateau State.
Emmanuel, a Ghanaian-Nigerian minister who founded The Wonderful Grace of God Evangelical Ministry in Bokkos and had earlier served with Dunamis Church, was travelling with Gabriel Joseph Dipak of Christ Apostolic Church from Jos toward Bokkos. According to accounts first published by Jos-based journalist Masara Kim, armed men identified by witnesses as Fulani militants stopped a commercial minivan carrying nine passengers on the Barkin Ladi–Bokkos road on Friday, 28 August. The attackers removed the two pastors from the vehicle, robbed the remaining passengers of phones and cash, and released them. Police later recovered the stolen items at the scene.
Emmanuel’s body was discovered early Saturday morning close to the abduction point. Dipak remained missing as of Saturday afternoon. His family was contacted by the captors, though specific ransom demands had not been publicly confirmed at the time of initial reports.
The same night, additional attacks were reported in communities within a 20-mile radius. A woman was killed in Fang village in Bachi District, Riyom Local Government Area. Two people were killed in Radura village in Fann District, Barkin Ladi LGA. At least one person was injured in Chakfem village, Mangu LGA.
The incidents occurred less than a mile from existing military checkpoints, according to the same local reports. Plateau State has recorded repeated cycles of communal violence, abductions and reprisals for years, particularly in Bokkos, Barkin Ladi, Riyom and Mangu. Both farming communities, which are predominantly Christian, and Fulani herding communities have suffered deaths and displacement. Security operations under Operation Safe Haven and Operation Enduring Peace have been active in the area, yet attacks near checkpoints have continued.
As of early Sunday, 30 August, major Nigerian newspapers had not yet published independent confirmation of the pastors’ identities or the precise sequence of events. Local journalists and church networks frequently report such incidents first in rural Plateau. Authorities were expected to investigate the killings and the remaining abduction. Pastor Dipak’s whereabouts had not been publicly established.
Christian persecutions in Africa have become a common occurrence due to radical Islamist groups.
Cover Image: Evangelical Pastor Hills Emmanuel.
