Pastor Ezekiel Odero of the New Life Prayer Centre and Church, who is accused of participating in a mass murder, has retained the services of renowned Nairobi attorney Danstan Omari.
After being detained yesterday due to his connections to cult leader Paul Mackenzie of the Good News International Church, Pastor Odero made the news on Friday.
According to Mr. Omari, who spoke to Nairobi News, he will be defending the preacher who has already been questioned by detectives about the killings of his followers.
“I will be representing Pastor Ezekiel in court and all we are interested in is justice,” said Mr Omari who will work on the case alongside Pastor Odero’s other lawyer Mr Jared Magolo.
Detectives are seeking to establish why members of Pastor Odero’s 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.
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.
Pastor Ezekiel’s lawyer defends him
Pastor Ezekiel’s lawyer Jared Magolo has strongly defended his client over alleged deaths that happen at his New Life Prayer Centre church in Mavueni, Malindi.
Ezekiel was arrested on Thursday, April 27, over allegations of indoctrination and linkage to bodies that are booked into several morgues in Malindi, Kilifi sub-county.
READ: The rise and rise of Pastor Ezekiel Odero: See his wealth and properties
While appearing in court on Friday, April 28, Magolo strongly defended Ezekiel against subjection to a 30-day extended detention and allegations that he was being probed for deaths linked to his church.
Magolo, insinuating that some people might have died at the church, argued that Ezekiel could not be held accountable for the death of a churchgoer who had gone to seek prayers as the last resort.
” You cannot blame a pastor for the death of a church goer. Very sick people are brought in for prayers, majorly as a last resort. They may or may not survive. My client has been reporting these deaths for those who never got healed,” Magolo said.
He argued that it was common for people to seek spiritual intervention when they are dying and as a last resort and cited the Biblical woman who had the issue of blood for 12 years who went and touched the hem of Jesus’ garment and got healed.
