Revealed: What Pastor Ezekiel Odero has told detectives so far
By Nyaboga KiageDetails of what Pastor Ezekiel Odero told police officers who grilled him for the better part of Thursday can now be revealed.
Pastor Odero was arrested on Thursday morning and questioned by sleuths attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) at the Coastal Police Headquarters in Mombasa County.
Detectives are seeking to establish why members of his New Life International Church in Kilifi County have been dying in their numbers.
In his statement, Pastor Odero is reported to have told detectives that people who have ever died in his church were taken there while critically ill.
Also read: Pastor Ezekiel Odero to face criminal charges related to mass killing
A detective privy to the ongoing investigations who spoke to Nairobi News in confidence said the clergyman was also questioned on why he did not report the deaths to the police before taking the bodies to the mortuary.
The pastor said he did not know that was the procedure.
On Tuesday, Pastor Odero was summoned by police officers in Kilifi where he was grilled for hours over claims that he was also involved in occultism.
He denied the claims before Kilifi detectives who told him they would summon him again when needed.
Pastor Odero was grilled after detectives questioned the management of Milele Funeral Home in Mavueni which is situated near the church linked to the man of God.
Also read: Why GSU officers have been deployed in Shakahola Forest
The pastor’s lawyer Mr Jared Magolo also failed to inform journalists whether there is a relationship between Pastor Odero and cult leader Paul Mackenzie of Good News International Church.
“I don’t know,” the lawyer said.
Mr Mackenzie was arrested in mid-March after it emerged that he led a team that buried his followers in shallow graves.
This is after the followers died while following his teachings that if one fasts to death then they are assured of meeting Jesus immediately they die.
By Thursday evening, more than 100 bodies had been exhumed from shallow graves within Shakahola Village in Malindi, Kilifi County.
Also read: Why Pastor Ezekiel Odero has been arrested