{"id":309051,"date":"2024-02-06T14:21:30","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T13:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/?p=309051"},"modified":"2024-02-06T14:21:30","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T13:21:30","slug":"kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2024\/02\/06\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenya cult leader on trial for alleged murder of 200 followers"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>Alleged to have incited hundreds of his acolytes to starve to death in order to \u201cmeet Jesus&#8221;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A Kenyan court on Tuesday charged the leader of a starvation cult and dozens of suspected accomplices with murder over the deaths of nearly 200 people in a forest near the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n<p>Self-proclaimed pastor, Paul Mackenzie, who has already been charged with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2023\/12\/15\/nigeria-urges-increased-us-support-in-counterterrorism-efforts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">terrorism<\/a>, manslaughter as well as child torture and cruelty, is alleged to have incited hundreds of his acolytes to starve to death in order to \u201cmeet Jesus\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, Mackenzie and 29 other suspects pleaded not guilty to 191 counts of murder, according to court documents seen by AFP.<\/p>\n<p>A 31st suspect was deemed to lack the mental fitness to stand trial and ordered to return to the Malindi High Court in a month\u2019s time.<\/p>\n<p>The cult leader has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.<\/p>\n<p>He was arrested in April last year after bodies were found in the Shakahola forest, with the grisly discoveries provoking horror across the world.<\/p>\n<p>Autopsies revealed that the majority of the 429 victims had died of hunger.<\/p>\n<p>But others, including children, appeared to have been strangled, beaten or suffocated.<\/p>\n<p>The case dubbed the \u201cShakahola forest massacre\u201d, led the government to flag the need for tighter control of fringe denominations.<\/p>\n<p>A largely Christian nation, Kenya has struggled to regulate unscrupulous churches and cults that dabble in criminality.<\/p>\n<p>Court documents have described Good News International Ministries founded by Mackenzie as \u201can organised criminal group (which) engaged in organised criminal activities\u201d, leading to the death of hundreds of followers.<\/p>\n<p>Questions have been raised about how Mackenzie managed to evade law enforcement despite a history of extremism and previous legal cases.<\/p>\n<p>A Senate Commission of Inquiry reported in October that the father of seven had faced charges in 2017 for extreme preaching.<\/p>\n<p>He was acquitted of charges of radicalisation in 2017 for illegally providing school teaching after rejecting the formal educational system that he claimed was not in line with the Bible.<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, he was also accused of links to the death of two children believed to have been starved, suffocated and then buried in a shallow grave in Shakahola. He was released on bail pending trial.<\/p>\n<p>There are more than 4,000 churches registered in the East African country of 53 million people, according to government figures.<\/p>\n<p>Previous efforts to regulate religious institutions in Kenya have been fiercely opposed as attempts to undermine constitutional guarantees for the division of church and state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alleged to have incited hundreds of his acolytes to starve to death in order to \u201cmeet Jesus&#8221; A Kenyan court on Tuesday charged the leader of a starvation cult and dozens of suspected accomplices with murder over the deaths of nearly 200 people in a forest near the Indian Ocean. Self-proclaimed pastor, Paul Mackenzie, who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":309052,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"2","single_blog_custom":"211693","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"0","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"1","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"0","show_prev_next_post":"0","show_popup_post":"0","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"1"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"jnews_override_bookmark_settings":{"override_bookmark_button":"0","override_show_bookmark_button":"0"},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[3618,11173,75967,1893],"class_list":["post-309051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","tag-alleged-murder","tag-followers","tag-kenya-cult-leader","tag-trial"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.8 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Kenya cult leader on trial for alleged murder of 200 followers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2024\/02\/06\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kenya cult leader on trial for alleged murder of 200 followers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Alleged to have incited hundreds of his acolytes to starve to death in order to \u201cmeet Jesus&quot; A Kenyan court on Tuesday charged the leader of a starvation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2024\/02\/06\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS PICKS \u2014 WITHIN NIGERIA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/withinnigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-06T13:21:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/02\/AFP__20240206__34HR2M9__v1__Preview__FilesKenyaCrimeReligionCult.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Adejayan Gbenga Gsong\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@withinnigeria\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@withinnigeria\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Adejayan Gbenga Gsong\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/06\\\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/06\\\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Adejayan Gbenga Gsong\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/11ab87194f641326bf5479bd96864d73\"},\"headline\":\"Kenya cult leader on trial for alleged murder of 200 followers\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-06T13:21:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/06\\\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":419,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/06\\\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/AFP__20240206__34HR2M9__v1__Preview__FilesKenyaCrimeReligionCult.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"alleged murder\",\"followers\",\"Kenya cult leader\",\"Trial\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Africa\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/06\\\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/06\\\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/06\\\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\\\/\",\"name\":\"Kenya cult leader on trial for alleged murder of 200 followers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/06\\\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/06\\\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/AFP__20240206__34HR2M9__v1__Preview__FilesKenyaCrimeReligionCult.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-06T13:21:30+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/06\\\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/06\\\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/06\\\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/AFP__20240206__34HR2M9__v1__Preview__FilesKenyaCrimeReligionCult.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/AFP__20240206__34HR2M9__v1__Preview__FilesKenyaCrimeReligionCult.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"(FILES) Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie (C), who set up the Good News International Church in 2003 and is accused of inciting cult followers to starve to death \\\"to meet Jesus\\\", appears in the dock with other co-accused at the court in Malindi on May 2, 2023. - A Kenyan court on February 6, 2024 charged self-proclaimed pastor and cult leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and dozens of suspected accomplices with murder over the deaths of nearly 200 people. (Photo by SIMON MAINA \\\/ AFP)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/06\\\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kenya cult leader on trial for alleged murder of 200 followers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"NEWS\",\"description\":\"Latest &amp; Trending Nigeria News, Entertainment, Sports\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"WITHN NIGERIA MEDIA LIMITED\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/Logo-dark-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/Logo-dark-bg.png\",\"width\":750,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"WITHN NIGERIA MEDIA LIMITED\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/facebook.com\\\/withinnigeria\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/withinnigeria\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/withinnigeria\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/withinnigeria\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCo0qw0SqhKNTsQQM48FpdTA\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/11ab87194f641326bf5479bd96864d73\",\"name\":\"Adejayan Gbenga Gsong\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2550bcb9e0a9edc282f2caeeec2c83111b44bb44e98f57fdd1ea8051f2223264?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2550bcb9e0a9edc282f2caeeec2c83111b44bb44e98f57fdd1ea8051f2223264?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2550bcb9e0a9edc282f2caeeec2c83111b44bb44e98f57fdd1ea8051f2223264?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Adejayan Gbenga Gsong\"},\"description\":\"Adejayan is an award-winning Journalist and Opinion writer with varied experience in Nigeria. Mail me at AdejayanOluwagbenga@withinnigeria.com. See full profile on Within Nigeria's TEAM PAGE\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.withinnigeria.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/adejayan_gbenga\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kenya cult leader on trial for alleged murder of 200 followers","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2024\/02\/06\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kenya cult leader on trial for alleged murder of 200 followers","og_description":"Alleged to have incited hundreds of his acolytes to starve to death in order to \u201cmeet Jesus\" A Kenyan court on Tuesday charged the leader of a starvation","og_url":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2024\/02\/06\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\/","og_site_name":"NEWS PICKS \u2014 WITHIN NIGERIA","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/withinnigeria","article_published_time":"2024-02-06T13:21:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/02\/AFP__20240206__34HR2M9__v1__Preview__FilesKenyaCrimeReligionCult.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Adejayan Gbenga Gsong","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@withinnigeria","twitter_site":"@withinnigeria","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Adejayan Gbenga Gsong","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2024\/02\/06\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2024\/02\/06\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\/"},"author":{"name":"Adejayan Gbenga Gsong","@id":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/11ab87194f641326bf5479bd96864d73"},"headline":"Kenya cult leader on trial for alleged murder of 200 followers","datePublished":"2024-02-06T13:21:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2024\/02\/06\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\/"},"wordCount":419,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2024\/02\/06\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/02\/AFP__20240206__34HR2M9__v1__Preview__FilesKenyaCrimeReligionCult.jpg","keywords":["alleged murder","followers","Kenya cult leader","Trial"],"articleSection":["Africa"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2024\/02\/06\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2024\/02\/06\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\/","url":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2024\/02\/06\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\/","name":"Kenya cult leader on trial for alleged murder of 200 followers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2024\/02\/06\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2024\/02\/06\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/02\/AFP__20240206__34HR2M9__v1__Preview__FilesKenyaCrimeReligionCult.jpg","datePublished":"2024-02-06T13:21:30+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2024\/02\/06\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2024\/02\/06\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2024\/02\/06\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/02\/AFP__20240206__34HR2M9__v1__Preview__FilesKenyaCrimeReligionCult.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/02\/AFP__20240206__34HR2M9__v1__Preview__FilesKenyaCrimeReligionCult.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"(FILES) Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie (C), who set up the Good News International Church in 2003 and is accused of inciting cult followers to starve to death \"to meet Jesus\", appears in the dock with other co-accused at the court in Malindi on May 2, 2023. - A Kenyan court on February 6, 2024 charged self-proclaimed pastor and cult leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and dozens of suspected accomplices with murder over the deaths of nearly 200 people. (Photo by SIMON MAINA \/ AFP)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2024\/02\/06\/kenya-cult-leader-on-trial-for-alleged-murder-of-200-followers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kenya cult leader on trial for alleged murder of 200 followers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/","name":"NEWS","description":"Latest &amp; Trending Nigeria News, Entertainment, Sports","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/#organization","name":"WITHN NIGERIA MEDIA LIMITED","url":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/01\/Logo-dark-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/01\/Logo-dark-bg.png","width":750,"height":500,"caption":"WITHN NIGERIA MEDIA LIMITED"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/facebook.com\/withinnigeria","https:\/\/x.com\/withinnigeria","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/withinnigeria\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/withinnigeria\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCo0qw0SqhKNTsQQM48FpdTA"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/11ab87194f641326bf5479bd96864d73","name":"Adejayan Gbenga Gsong","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2550bcb9e0a9edc282f2caeeec2c83111b44bb44e98f57fdd1ea8051f2223264?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2550bcb9e0a9edc282f2caeeec2c83111b44bb44e98f57fdd1ea8051f2223264?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2550bcb9e0a9edc282f2caeeec2c83111b44bb44e98f57fdd1ea8051f2223264?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Adejayan Gbenga Gsong"},"description":"Adejayan is an award-winning Journalist and Opinion writer with varied experience in Nigeria. Mail me at AdejayanOluwagbenga@withinnigeria.com. See full profile on Within Nigeria's TEAM PAGE","url":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/author\/adejayan_gbenga\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}