Day: February 12, 2024

Kenyan cult leader Paul Mackenzie and 29 associates have been charged with the murder of 191 children whose bodies were found among more than double that number buried in a forest. The defendants all denied the charges brought before a court in the coastal town of Malindi. One suspect was found mentally unfit to stand trial. Prosecutors say Mackenzie ordered his followers to starve themselves and their children to death so that they could go to heaven before the world ended. More than 400 bodies were exhumed from the Shakahola forest. Mackenzie was arrested last April after the bodies began to be discovered. He has already been charged with terrorism-related crimes, manslaughter and torture. There have been different charges brought before different courts in connection with the killings.

The co-founder of Nigeria’s biggest bank has died in a helicopter crash in the United States along with his wife and son, his company said on Sunday. Access Bank Group CEO Herbert Wigwe was killed when the aircraft crashed in California on Friday, Access Holdings said in a statement. “Dr Wigwe died alongside his wife and son on Friday, February 9, 2024 in a helicopter accident in the United States,” it said. “The entire Access family mourns the loss of Herbert, Doreen and Chizi.” US authorities said two crew members and four passengers were killed. Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said former Nigeria Stock Exchange president Abimbola Ogunbanjo was among the dead, calling the crash “an overwhelming tragedy that is shocking beyond comprehension.” “The President condoles with the Wigwe a...