Police detain 20 children, 7 adults linked to religious cult in Mombasa
Police in Mombasa County have rescued 20 children and detained seven adults suspected of belonging to a religious extremist group in Changamwe,
Police in Mombasa County have rescued 20 children and detained seven adults suspected of belonging to a religious extremist group in Changamwe, Mombasa County.
Changamwe Police Commander Patrick Gogo, in a press briefing on Monday, October 3, said the raid is part of an ongoing operation that began last Wednesday.
The individuals were found confined in the Zion Fire Annointing Ministries church, cut off from the outside world.
According to Gogo, the 27 individuals were nabbed after one woman and her children managed to escape the church and report it to the police on Friday, October 31.
According to the police commander, the individuals’ poor condition inside the church exposed them to diseases such as malaria, especially the children.
“When we came in, we found that the condition the women and children were in was a very worrying state because we found all of them sleeping on the floor of the church, and this was dangerous,” Gogo said.
“As you know, Mombasa has very many mosquitoes, and so when small children sleep on the floor without nets, it is easy for them to get malaria,” he added.
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Gogo said that police have yet to arrest the owner of the church and have launched investigations to determine whether there are other victims and to trace the whereabouts of the church owner.
This adds to the growing number of religious extremism cases uncovered by police officers this year.
In April, police in Migori County rescued 57 individuals and recovered two bodies from St Joseph Mission of Africa Church in Migori County, Kochola Village, in a suspected cult.
According to the reports, the individuals were rescued after a tip-off from the Assistant Chief of Kanyadiedo sub-location, who reported suspicious activities in the church.
At Kamagambo Police Station in Migori, the security and intelligence committee from Rongo sub-county discovered one lifeless body lying on the floor of a prayer room in the church on Sunday, April 20.
According to the police, the body was found wrapped in a white robe and covered in a grey sheet, had injuries on the face, and foam was oozing from the mouth. Another body was recovered later in the day on the church premises.
After being escorted to the Rongo Sub-County Hospital for medical attention, the police claim that the individuals resisted being examined and began to sing religious songs.
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