Pastor Ezekiel Odero of the New Life Prayer Centre and church will face criminal charges related to mass killing of his followers, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has said.

The televangelist was Thursday morning arrested and taken to Mombasa for further questioning after spending a better part of Wednesday with Kilifi DCI officers.

He was taken to the Coast Police Headquarters.

CS Kindiki has confirmed that church has been closed down and over 100 people who were holed up at the premises have been evacuated and will be required to record statements.

“It is notified for information of the general public that today Thursday, 27th April 2023, Mr Ezekiel Ombok Odero the Head of New Life Prayer Centre/Church at Mavueni within Malindi Sub-County of Kilifi County has been arrested and is being processed to face criminal charges related to mass killing of his followers. The said Church has been shut down. The over 100 people who were holed up at the premises have been evacuated and will be required to record statements,” reads Kindiki’s tweet.

The televangelist is accused of being an accomplice of Pastor Paul Mackenzie. 

Briefing the media on Thursday, April 27, Coast Regional Commissioner Rhodah Onyancha said various deaths have been reported on his premises and some recorded in morgues that may be linked to him.

The pastor denied the claims of occultism at his church before Kilifi detectives on Wednesday.

Police aware of the developments said the move to summon him on Wednesday was prompted by the ongoing exhumation of bodies from a farm in Shakahola Forest.

The farm is linked to pastor Paul Mackenzie of Good News International Church.

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Flamboyant Coast-based televangelist Pastor Ezekiel Odero has been grilled by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) as investigations into the mysterious deaths related to cultic worship at the Coast deepen.

Multiple reports indicate that Pastor Ezekiel recorded a statement with Kilifi DCI on Tuesday, April 25 over his doctrine and church operations.

He operates the New Life Church based in Malindi, Kilifi County.

It is alleged that a morgue located near Pastor Ezekiel’s church has been collecting dead bodies from the church.

A source who spoke to one of the leading local dailies revealed that the DCI officers also visited Milele Funeral Home and grilled the CEO Mr. Johnson Amani Kea and his staff on the number of dead bodies the morgue collected from Pastor Ezekiel’s church.

Last week, reports emerged that the morgue had filed a complaint with the police against Pastor Ezekiel on claims that he had killed its business by performing rituals and driving away customers on allegations that the funeral home had been built at a blackspot with an aim of getting more people killed in accidents for the business to boom.

However, the funeral home’s CEO has denied the allegations, noting that they have not filed any complain with the police.

“We did not file a complaint. The police are in the process of recording statements on how many bodies we have handled so far from pastor Ezekiel’s church,” Mr Amani was quoted by the local daily.

On Tuesday, April 25, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki confirmed that police officers were investigating other flamboyant preachers whose teachings appeared contrary to what the Law advocates for. 

Investigations into the life and doctrines of Pastor Ezekiel follows the Shakahola massacre, in which over 90 bodies were exhumed and over 30 people were rescued while starving themselves to death.

Controversial Pastor, Paul Mackenzie was arrested, with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji recommending the following charges; terrorism, genocide, radicalisation and aiding individuals to kill themselves. 

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President William Ruto has finally broken his silence on controversial Pastor Paul Mackenzie’s cult-like church that has left many Kenyans dead in Shakahola village, Kilifi County.

39 bodies have so far been exhumed and several other Kenyans rescued after they followed the pastor’s advice of fasting until they die with hopes of meeting their creator.

As at Sunday evening, the number of those dead from fasting had hit 47 as 8 bodies had earlier been found before being buried. The number is expected to go up since there are still many other graves that have not been dug up.

The head of state who was speaking on Monday during the prison officers’ cadet pass-out parade in Kiambu County termed the controversial pastor as a terrorist who does not belong to any religion.

According to President Ruto, Pastor Mackenzie, just like any other terrorist, belongs to prison.

“People like Paul Mackenzie of the Shakahola cult and any other terrorists, do not belong to any religion. They belong in prison,” said President Ruto.

President Ruto’s statement comes just a day after Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof Kithure Kindiki condemned the killing of at least 39 people in a shocking religious cult ran by Mackenzie.

In a statement on Sunday, April 23, CS Kindiki termed the deaths as an abuse of freedom of worship and called for tougher measures to regulate religious activities in the country going forward, including self-regulation of the organisations.

According to Kindiki, punishing persons linked to the cult that forces their followers to fast to death is not enough.

He promised to visit the area on Tuesday even as he directed reinforcement of security in the 800-acre forest that has now been declared a crime scene.

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