Pastor Ezekiel allegedly ferried bodies from his church to Shakahola
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Pastor Ezekiel allegedly conspired with Paul Mackenzie to ferry bodies from his church to Shakahola forest
Pastor Ezekiel allegedly conspired with Paul Mackenzie to ferry bodies from his church to Shakahola forest.
The influential Kilifi-based Pastor Ezekiel, as he is commonly known, was arrested yesterday over reports of “mass killings of his followers” at his New Life Prayer Centre and Church at the Mavueni area.
Detectives probing the Shakahola massacre where over 100 bodies have been exhumed noted pastor Ezekiel might have worked closely with his counterpart pastor Paul MacKenzie to conceal deaths that occurred at his Mavueni church.
The bodies are believed to have been removed from the Milele Funeral Home after the pastor differed with the funeral home management,” the police report stated.
“Preliminary investigations have revealed pastor Ezekiel is alleged to have ferried bodies of those who died inside his church at Mavueni to Shakahola through the help of MacKenzie.
Pastor Ezekiel was accused by Milele Funeral Home of failing to settle the mortuary fees of faithful who died at his church.
The police noted that after falling out with the funeral home, the cleric collected bodies, put them inside a lorry, and ferried them to Shakahola where they were buried secretly.
“The mortuary warned the pastor to collect the bodies or pay preservation fees, however, the adamant pastor collected the bodies and put them inside a lorry and ferried them to Shakahola where they are believed to have been secretly buried,” police say.
Addressing the press at the regional Police headquarters, Regional Commissioner Rhoda Onyancha said Ezekiel was arrested in connection with allegations of an unknown number of deaths reported inside his premises.
“Going forward we have closed the prayer centre and the pastor is being investigated on allegations of deaths inside his premises,” Onyancha said.
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She further noted that the prayer centre, Ezekiel’s residential house, the church, and school had been declared a crime scene and over 100 faithful found camping inside the church had been ordered to leave.
However, the number of people suspected to have died inside the church, their identity, and gender remain unclear.
Ongoing investigations, however, have revealed that hundreds of ailing patients, mostly women, were removed from wards to the church where purported healing prayers were being performed upon them.
“Ezekiel would indoctrinate his followers, with sick relatives, to bring them to the church for him to perform miracles. Many of the patients who were terminally ill would have been reported to have died awaiting prayers at the church; these deaths were never reported to police,” said police.
Also read,
Shakahola whistleblower reveals how Mackenzie and his aides stood guard to watch children
Pastor Ezekiel to be charged with the mass killing of followers with 100 evacuated
A victim of the Mackenzie cult now implicates police over the deaths
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