News
Leader of deadly Kenyan cult group in mass starvation saga, dies in detention
Joseph Juma Buyuka, one of the 30 persons fingered among the Kenyan cult group, led by Paul Mackenzie, has reportedly died in custody after staging a 10-day hunger strike while in custody, prosecutors informed a Kenyan court on Wednesday.
The leadership of the group, which faces charges related to the deaths of more than 300 people who were told to starve themselves to death if they wanted to go to heaven, had been promptly arrested by security operatives in the country.
The deceased had been in police custody for more than 60 days while the Kenyan criminal investigators continued with the probe and exhumation of bodies around Shakahola forest on the outskirts of Malindi in coastal Kenya, where police first discovered bodies in April.
A prosecutor in the Mackenzie case, Jami Yamina, informed the Mombasa court on Wednesday that the deceased identified as Joseph Juma Buyuka was among the Mackenzie followers who had staged a 10-day hunger strike while in custody.
Al Jazeera, quoted him as saying: “The [Mackenzie] aide had declined to eat and drink while being held at Watamu Police Station,” adding that he died two days ago from complications arising from hunger strike and starvation, while undergoing treatment at a hospital, though a postmortem report, was being awaited.
The prosecutor, who stated that the autopsy report would be presented to the court after the postmortem was conducted, added that two other suspects, Evans Sirya and Fredrick Karimi, who were also admitted on the same day, were still critically ill in the same hospital, adding: “We [the state] shall file a medical report on their progress with the court within a week. After the postmortem on Buyuka is concluded, we shall also produce the report.”
Together with 15 other suspects, Buyuka appeared in court emaciated and unable to stand or walk. The investigating officer informed the court at the time that the suspects had staged a hunger strike.
In Kenya, suspects are held in cells at police stations until they are arraigned in court. Last week, the prosecution team asked the court that the sixteen suspects be moved from the police station cells to a government prison where they would be force-fed food. The request was granted.
When they appeared in court last week, Buyuka, Karimi, Sirya and two others promised the Shanzu Senior Principal Magistrate Yusuf Shikanda that they would resume eating and cooperate with the police, a court official told Al Jazeera anonymously.
BBC, which reported on Wednesday, that the judge asked the prosecutor to present a medical report of all the 30 suspects in custody today, said that so far, the death toll from the mass starvation episode has hit 336, with at least 93 bodies retrieved in the 10-day third phase of the exhumation exercise that started on 6 June and stopped on 16 June.
Rescue of survivors and exhumation of the dead is continuing in phases. The morgues in the area have surpassed their capacity, prompting the postmortem and transfer of bodies in phases.
The third phase of the postmortem exercise on the bodies already exhumed from the vast 325-hectare Shakahola forest was expected to start on Wednesday, the report said, adding that the survivors would be meant to undergo mental health assessments
The government-authorised rescue began on 13 April after two children were reported to have starved and suffocated to death by their parents on Mackenzie’s advice on 16 and 17 March 16.
Mackenzie, the head of the Good News International Church, has been accused of indoctrinating his followers, asking them to abandon “earthly life” and meet at his farm in a village called Shakahola in Kilifi county for a fast “to meet Jesus”, leading to the mass deaths.
While starvation appears to be the main cause of death, some of the victims – including children – were strangled, beaten, or suffocated, according to the chief government pathologist Johansen Oduor.
“The suspect offered ₦500 million to the SPU commander in an attempt to make the team stand down and allow him to contact his associates to move the consignment elsewhere. The offer was rejected immediately and properly documented for further investigation.”
These were the exact words of Olohundare Jimoh Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), with which he detailed how operatives of the Zone 2 Command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) scoffed at a N500million bribe to turn their eyes off the importation of a huge consignment of drugs imported into the country.
This was part of the details of a major breakthrough by the operatives after bursting a major drug trafficking syndicate in Lagos, which led to the seizure of suspected illicit drugs estimated at ₦7.8 billion and arresting several suspects, including the alleged kingpin.
In the operation, reportedly carried out by officers of the Special Protection Unit (SPU) in collaboration with divisional police detectives, the operatives, were said to have stormed a house in Mende, Maryland area of Lagos, following months of surveillance and intelligence gathering coordinated by the Zone 2 Headquarters.
The recovered drugs consisted of hundreds of bags of suspected Canadian Loud, allegedly stored in the residence of the prime suspect, Jimoh, said disclosing that the suspect was apprehended on May 19 after weeks of strategic monitoring by operatives.
Offering further details, he said the operation was executed with technical support and guidance from the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, alongside coordinated efforts between the SPU and divisional police teams.
Jimoh revealed that during the operation, the suspect allegedly attempted to bribe the SPU commander with ₦500 million to compromise the mission and allow the movement of the drug consignment.
The AIG described the development as a reflection of the renewed professionalism and operational discipline being entrenched in the Force under the current policing strategy.
He noted that the success of the operation underscored the importance of deploying specialized police units alongside conventional divisional teams in tackling organized crime.
According to him, the operation demonstrated the effectiveness of rapid containment strategies, intelligence-led policing, and professional conduct among the operatives involved in the raid.
“Rapid containment was achieved as the Special Protection Unit worked with divisional teams to secure the perimeter and prevent escape or interference with evidence.
“The operation was intelligence-driven, following months of surveillance and technical monitoring before the raid was carried out.
“The immediate rejection and documentation of the bribe attempt also reflect the standard expected from redeployed personnel at the divisional level,” Jimoh added.
Reacting to the development, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, commended the operatives for their professionalism, saying the success of the operation validated the ongoing redeployment of personnel to divisions and units across Lagos and Ogun states.
The IGP noted: “Policing must be close to the people, and our specialized units must work side by side with divisional teams on the ground.
“The professionalism shown by the SPU commander in rejecting a ₦500 million bribe and following due procedure is the standard we expect. It shows that when you put your best foot forward at the grassroots, you get results and restore public trust.”
Disu further assured that the Force leadership would continue to reward integrity while holding officers accountable to the highest ethical standards.
Police authorities said exhibits recovered during the operation have been properly documented and will be tendered in court. The suspects are currently in custody while investigations continue to track down other members of the drug trafficking network.
Slavery is a wound on the memory of the Universal Church, Pope Leo XIV, said on Monday, as he issued a fresh apology over the participation of the the Catholic Church in the centuries-long delay in condemning slavery.
The pontiff stressed the position of the church after his predecessors had offered similar apologies, said: “For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon.”
Writing in a major text that warned about “new forms of slavery” behind the digital economy, the joined John Paul II, who denounced slave trade in 1992 before issuing a sweeping request for forgiveness for historical injustices in 2000 and Pope Francis who also repeatedly denounced contemporary forms of slavery.
In his own vein, Pope Leo, pointed out that the Church owned slaves until the Middle Ages and it also advised European sovereigns on how to justify the enslavement of “infidels.”
He stressed in “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), a document focused primarily on the rise of artificial intelligence, that it was only in the 19th century that “a formal, absolute and universal condemnation of slavery was clearly articulated.”
Hear him: “It is true that past events cannot be judged anachronistically, as though the moral criteria that matured over time had always been available. Yet neither can we deny or diminish the delay with which both society and the Church came to denounce the scourge of slavery. This constitutes a wound in Christian memory, one from which we cannot consider ourselves detached.”
Qowiy Oloyede, a resident of Oriya Sokoto road, Atan Ota, is currently telling operatives of the Ogun State Colice command, the reasons that pushed him into making a video suggesting that a part of the state was under attack of terrorists, knowing same to be fake.
Oloyede, reports say, dragged to the police on May 23 by one Ayinla Sodiq, who accused him of creating and sharing a misleading TikTok video falsely claiming that bandits had invaded the Atan Ota community..
Zagazola Makama, a counterinsurgency publication, which broke the news, said on immediately being questioning by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Oloyed, allegedly confessed to fabricating the video to gain followers on social media.
Apart from admitting that that he created the fake bandit attack content to gain followers and trend online, said in a video currently on social media the herder featured in the clip was a cattle rearer who usually grazed cows behind his shop and had initially refused to participate before eventually agreeing.
Oloyede, who also claimed he could neither read nor write, adding that his apprentice wrote the caption accompanying the video posted online, maintained that he had only produced and posted two similar videos, one on Monday and another on Wednesday.
The command, said to have recovered photographs and video evidence linked to the fake publication during preliminary investigation, added that the suspect would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Abeokuta, for further investigation, warning residents against spreading false information capable of causing panic and public disorder, and for the public to verify information before sharing content on social media.
-
News4 weeks agoBREAKING: Makinde, Turaki, lose! *S’Court affirms Wike’s PDP leadership
-
News2 weeks agoTinubu to African leaders: Copy Nigeria, produce your way out of poverty
-
Features4 weeks agoJim Nwobodo: The Sun shines, thrills, at ‘The Vanguard Awards’
-
News6 days agoBREAKING: US-Nigeria troops slaughter 175 ISWAP fighters
-
News2 weeks agoWhy we pegged presidential ticket forms at N60million – NDC
-
Columns3 days agoDear General Gowon: That apology you’re running from is your nemesis
-
News2 weeks agoGowon on civil war: My book is to put records straight, remove falsehood
-
News2 weeks agoBREAKING! Coast brightens for Obi, as NDC zones presidency to South