NAIROBI, Kenya: A high-profile Kenyan pastor appeared in court on Friday suspected of links to the murder of dozens of people found in mass graves that has been dubbed the 'Shakahola forest massacre.' Ezekiel Odero, the flamboyant head of the New Life Prayer Centre and Church, was arrested on Thursday in the coastal town of Malindi and is accused of the 'mass killing' of his followers.
It followed the arrest of Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, a cult leader accused of the deaths of dozens of his followers who were allegedly ordered to starve themselves to death to find God.
Digged holes are seen after exhuming bodies at the mass-grave site in Shakahola, outside the coastal town of Malindi, on April 25, 2023. - Kenyan investigators unearthed another 16 bodies on Tuesday in a forest where a cult was believed to be practising mass starvation, bringing the number of victims so far to 89 including children. There are fears more corpses could be found in Shakahola forest where cult leader Paul Mackenzie Nthenge had allegedly been telling his followers that starvation was the only path to God. Photo by Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP
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