Kenyan police have arrested a popular televangelist and closed his church on the coast, as investigations into a religious cult linked to nearly 100 deaths continue.
Pastor Ezekiel Odero, known for attracting large crowds at his events, was arrested on Thursday after police conducted an inspection of a funeral home near his New Life International Church in Mavueni, Kilifi County.
According to the police, morgue attendants had been collecting bodies on the church grounds.
“This morning, we arrested Pastor Ezekiel Odero on allegations of the deaths that have been occurring at his premises,” Coast regional commissioner Rhoda Onyancha told reporters.
The pastor has yet to respond to the allegations.
Police are also looking into his alleged relationship with controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, who is accused of telling followers to starve themselves in order to “meet Jesus.”
Kenyan authorities have already recovered 95 bodies believed to be the remains of people who died of starvation and were buried in shallow graves in an 800-acre forest near his church on the coast. Many of those killed were children.
The preacher, who is already in custody, has maintained his innocence.
