Another Kenyan Pastor Arrested Over ‘Mass Killings’

A Kenyan church leader was arrested on Thursday over the “mass killing of his followers” just days after the leader of a cult based in the same region was detained and mass graves of his followers were found.

Ezekiel Odero, the head of the New Life Prayer Centre and Church, “has been arrested and is being processed to face criminal charges related to the mass killing of his followers.

Authorities evacuated more than 100 people who had been “holed up” in Ezekiel Odero’s New Life Prayer Centre and Church in the small southeastern town of Mavueni.

Odero’s arrest comes on the heels of an ongoing investigation into Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, the cult leader accused of the deaths of 98 people linked to his church.

The self-styled preacher is accused of urging his followers to starve themselves to death as a path to God.

Most of those found in mass graves have been children, and police fear the death toll could rise as their search widens.

Odero was “being processed to face criminal charges related to the mass killing of his followers,” Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki wrote on Twitter.

“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,” Kindiki added.

President William Ruto and Kindiki had both said earlier this week that authorities would crack down on extremist religious leaders who violated the law.

Some Kenyan lawmakers have criticised the security services for missing opportunities to prevent the mass deaths in the Shakahola forest after it emerged that Mackenzie had been arrested on suspicion of the murder of two children, then released on bail last month.