Usman, who posted the devastating news on his social media platform on Sunday, stated that the terrorists, who were positively identified as Fulani militia, also injured several people and set homes ablaze during the attacks.
In a post titled “One night, five attacks,” Usman wrote:
“Two pastors kidnapped along the Barkin Ladi-Bokkos road — one found dead this morning. A woman killed in Fang village, Riyom LGA. Two killed in Radura village, Barkin Ladi LGA. One injured in Chakfem village, Mangu LGA.
“All in Plateau State, all last night, all linked to the same suspected Fulani terrorists.
“Plateau State woke up Saturday to news of five separate attacks that claimed multiple lives across several communities.
“Among the dead is Pastor Hills Emmanuel, a Ghanaian-Nigerian cleric based in Plateau State. The former Dunamis Church pastor and founder of The Wonderful Grace of God Evangelical Ministry in Bokkos was abducted on Friday, August 28, alongside his colleague, Pastor Gabriel Joseph Dipak of Christ Apostolic Church, while travelling from Jos to Bokkos.
“Their abductors, identified by witnesses as Fulani militants, reportedly mounted a roadblock along the Barkin Ladi-Bokkos road, less than a mile from military checkpoints on both sides of the road. They stopped a commercial minivan carrying nine passengers and dragged the two pastors out.
“According to witnesses, the attackers seized phones and cash from the other passengers before releasing them. Police later recovered all the stolen items at the scene.
“Pastor Emmanuel’s body was found early Saturday morning, August 29, near the site of the abduction.
“Around 9 p.m. on the same night, four other attacks occurred 10 to 20 miles away. A woman was killed in Fang village, Bachi District, Riyom LGA.
“Two people were killed in Radura village, Fann District, Barkin Ladi LGA. At least one person was injured in Chakfem village, Mangu LGA.
“Five incidents. One night. Same suspected perpetrators. Same targeted victims — Christians.
“As of noon on Saturday, the abductors had contacted the family of Pastor Dipak. Their demands were yet to be ascertained at press time.
“The latest attacks underscore the continuing persecution of Christians and other minorities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, a region that has endured relentless assaults and village takeovers by jihadist forces, even as the government continues to frame the violence as a farmer-herder clash.”
