Pastor Ezekiel Odero was released from police custody on Thursday, May 4, by a Mombasa court on the grounds that the State had not provided sufficient reason to extend his stay there.
Pastor Ezekiel was freed by Shanzu Senior Principal Magistrate Joe Omido on a KSh 3 million bond or KSh 1.5 million cash bail.
However, the teleevangelist will have to report to the police once a week. Also, he is not permitted to make remarks about the Shakahola massacre.
The terms of his release will apply until the end of the investigation or until he is formally charged in court.
Pastor Ezekiel and “Pastor” Paul Mackenzie are under investigation for the Shakaloha tragedy in Kilifi County, which has seen more than 100 people starve to death under Mackenzie’s instructions.
Pastor Ezekiel is under investigation for murder, aiding suicide, abduction, radicalization, genocide, crimes against humanity, child abuse, fraud, money laundering, and being an accessory to crimes.
The government wanted to keep the televangelist in custody for an additional 30 days as the investigations continued.
Prosecutors, who testified in front of the Mombasa court on Thursday, said they had new information regarding the Shakahola cult deaths, over which Mackenzie is being investigated.
According to the prosecutor, autopsies on some of the bodies that were exhumed in Shakahola show that several victims, particularly children, died from strangling.
The State acknowledged that the deaths at Odero’s church were reported to the police, but said that there was no reason to suspect criminal involvement at the time of the reporting.
The pastor already acknowledged, through his lawyers, that 15 people had passed away while seeking spiritual assistance there in the year and a month that his New Life Prayer Centre and Church have been in operation.
READ ALSO: Shakahola: Nigerian Man Recounts Horror of Losing Wife to Mackenzie’s Cult
Through the lawyers Cliff Ombeta, Danstan Omari, and Shadrack Wamboi, Odero claimed that the 15 sought his help while in critical conditions.
Do you have a story you would like us to publish? Please reach us at info@gotta.news.
