Zimbabwean police say authorities have discovered 16 unregistered graves at a facility where more than 250 children were allegedly used as cheap labor and arrested a man claiming to be a prophet from the Apostolic sect. did.
Police spokesman Paul Nyati said in a statement that 56-year-old “self-styled” prophet Ishmael Choklongelwa had set up a sect with more than 1,000 followers on a farm about 34 kilometers (21 miles) northwest of the capital Harare. claimed to be in charge. The children were with other believers.
He claimed that the currently rescued children were “used in various physical activities for the benefit of the cult leadership.” Of the 251 children, 246 did not have birth certificates.
“Police have established that all school-age children have no formal education, are forced to do manual labor in the name of teaching them life skills, and are abused as cheap labor.” Nyati insisted.
Police announced that the graves discovered included those of seven infants whose burials were not registered with authorities.
He said police raided the shrine on Tuesday. Choklongelwa, who called himself Prophet Ishmael, was arrested along with seven of his aides for “criminal acts including abuse of minors.”
Nyati said further details would be released “as the investigation progresses.”
H Metro, a state-run tabloid that accompanied the raid, reported that police in riot gear were joined by female believers wearing white clothes and hoods demanding the return of children who had been put on a waiting police bus. The video showed them arguing. It is not clear where police took the children and some of the women accompanying them.
“Why are they taking our children? It’s comfortable here. There are no problems here,” one woman said in a video posted to the newspaper’s X (formerly Twitter) account. people shouted.
The newspaper said police armed with guns, tear gas and dogs “carried out a brutal attack” on the shrine. Believers described the site as a “promised land.”
The apostolic group, which infuses Pentecostal doctrine with traditional beliefs, is popular in the deeply religious southern African country.
There are few detailed studies of the Apostolic Church in Zimbabwe, but a UNICEF study estimates that Zimbabwe is the largest religious denomination with approximately 2.5 million members in a country of 15 million. Some groups require that believers avoid formal education for children and medicines and medical care for members who must instead seek healing through prayer, holy water, and faith in anointed stones. adheres to the doctrine of
After intense campaigns by governments and non-governmental organizations, some groups have recently begun allowing their members to visit hospitals and enroll children in schools.
