By Masara Kim, TruthNigeria
Pastor Emmanuel Hills and his wife, Scholastica, left their home in Bokkos, Plateau State, at dawn on Friday, August 28, expecting to make a short medical trip to Jos and return home that evening to their five children.
Only Scholastica made it back.
According to TruthNigeria, Hills was abducted on his journey home alongside fellow pastor Gabriel Joseph Dipak. Hills was later found dead near the highway, with multiple stab wounds to his abdomen. Witnesses cited by TruthNigeria said the attackers intercepted their vehicle while shouting “Allahu Akbar.”
The incident occurred about 35 miles south of Jos, in Nigeria’s North Central region, and has renewed concerns about the safety of Christians and other vulnerable communities in Plateau State.
TruthNigeria reported that it learned of the abduction at about 11:43 p.m. local time, less than two hours after the incident, and worked with local law-enforcement sources in efforts to locate the two pastors. Hills’ body was recovered by sunrise, while Dipak was released later that day after a ransom was reportedly paid.
Hills had been ill for several days and traveled to Jos with his wife for medical examinations at Jos University Teaching Hospital. Dipak was also in Jos, where he had visited an acquaintance receiving treatment after attending a church leadership meeting.
The two pastors had not initially planned to travel together. According to TruthNigeria, they met at a bus station at about 5 p.m. and boarded the same commercial minivan headed for Bokkos.
Scholastica told TruthNigeria that she had been uneasy about making the journey at dusk.
“I told my husband to abort the trip till the following day, but he was not a man to give into fear,” she said.
She described her husband as a courageous pastor who was willing to minister in places where others might be afraid to go. She also said his favorite Bible verse was Philippians 1:21: “To live is Christ and to die is gain.”
Less than an hour into the journey, the vehicle was reportedly stopped by armed men.
Scholastica told TruthNigeria that the passengers saw flashlights along the isolated road before a group of armed men emerged, carrying guns and machetes. The attackers allegedly ordered everyone out of the vehicle, forced them to lie face down and took their phones and other belongings.
The other passengers were eventually released. Hills and Dipak were taken away.
Dipak later told TruthNigeria that the attackers separated the two pastors from the other passengers and led them toward the surrounding hills.
As they were being taken away, Dipak said, Hills attempted to escape.
“While we were marching toward the surrounding hills, Pastor Hills tried to escape, and right in front of me, they caught him and slaughtered him,” Dipak told TruthNigeria.
Dipak said the attackers spoke Fulani and threatened to kill him if he resisted. He reported that the group eventually took him to a camp in the hills, where his hands were tied.
According to Dipak’s account, his captors told him they had monitored his movements from Jos and had received instructions to kill him.
As efforts to locate the two pastors continued, Scholastica waited at home and prayed for their safe return.
By the following morning, Hills’ body had been recovered near the reported ambush site.
Scholastica told TruthNigeria that she struggled to accept the news.
“He was my best friend, my father, my brother and the one who gave me peace,” she said.
While mourners gathered at the Hills residence, supporters and relatives gathered at Dipak’s home, roughly 600 meters away, following news of his release. TruthNigeria reported that his church and family had paid a ransom for his freedom.
A History of Violence Against Clergy
TruthNigeria’s report places the killing within a pattern of violence affecting Christian communities in Nigeria.
According to figures cited by the publication from the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA), 28,551 Christians have been killed and 34,773 abducted across Nigeria since 2019. The figures attribute the violence to radical Islamist groups.
Plateau State has also experienced years of deadly attacks. Officials cited by TruthNigeria estimate that more than 11,749 people have been killed in related violence across the state since 2001.
Bokkos Local Government Area, where Hills and Dipak lived and served, has been particularly affected.
Bishop Ayuba Matawal, a former chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Bokkos who now supervises displaced-persons camps in the area, told TruthNigeria that Fulani militants are responsible for much of the violence.
Matawal said local tribal leaders estimate that more than 500 Christians have been killed in Bokkos since 2013. He told TruthNigeria that at least 24 ministers have been killed during that period, while another 35 were allegedly kidnapped, tortured and subsequently released after ransom payments.
In a message to TruthNigeria, Matawal said clergy and churches are frequently targeted because of their influence and their role as symbols of the Christian faith.
He also said churches and pastors’ residences are often among the first structures attacked during assaults on communities.
A Pastor Who Chose to Stay
Hills, a former pastor with Dunamis Church, founded the Wonderful Grace of God Evangelical Ministry in Bokkos eight years ago. Despite losing both parents at a young age and having only one sister, he remained in Bokkos, the community where he had spent much of his life.
TruthNigeria reported that Hills maintained occasional contact with his hometown of Enugu in southeastern Nigeria but continued his ministry in Bokkos despite the security risks.
Beyond his pastoral responsibilities, Hills served as treasurer of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria in Bokkos and was known for advocating for Christians and other marginalized communities, according to TruthNigeria.
His death has once again drawn attention to the security challenges facing religious leaders and Christian communities in Nigeria, particularly in areas where recurring attacks have displaced residents, destroyed churches and claimed the lives of clergy and civilians.
● Original reporting: Masara Kim, TruthNigeria.com.