The Police of Kenya arrested this Thursday a popular evangelical pastor in connection with the alleged death of some of his followers and in dependencies of his church, located in the south of the country.
Ezekiel Odero, of the New life Prayer Center & Church in Mavueni, in the coastal county of Kilifi, was arrested “on allegations of deaths that have been occurring on their premises and reported in various morgues and institutions,” explained the regional police commissioner, Rhodah Onyancha.
BREAKING: Televangelist Ezekiel Odero of New Life Prayer Center and Church arrested over alleged deaths in his church at Mavueni in Kilifi, Regional Commissioner Rhodha Onyancha says pic.twitter.com/OEqLHY9Uhq
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) April 27, 2023
Later, the Kenyan Minister of the Interior, Kithure Kindiki, confirmed the arrest of Odero, a televangelist who gathers large masses of faithful in his religious services, Efe points out. Kindiki specified that he “is being prosecuted to face criminal charges related to the mass murder of his followers.”
“This church has been closed. The more than one hundred people who were entrenched in the compound have been evacuated and must take a statement,” Kindiki said on his Twitter social network account, without providing further details about the case.
Odero’s arrest coincides with the investigation into the death of around a hundred people from a sect who allegedly died from fasting to meet with Jesus Christ, following instructions from another pastor, Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, of what is known as Good News International Church ( International Church of Good News), also in Kilifi County.
The vast majority of these people have been discovered in graves dug in land in the town of Shakahola belonging to Nthenge. Police found the bodies at a ranch owned by Makenzi, according to EuroNews.
According to this source, the country’s Red Cross reported that an average of 213 people are still missing.
Nthenge has been in police custody since May 14 and is pending a court appearance scheduled for May 2, along with thirteen other suspects.
At the moment, the authorities have not indicated whether the cases of both pastors have any relationship, points out efe.
