HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) 鈥 Zimbabwe police on Wednesday said they have arrested a man claiming to be a prophet of an apostolic sect at a shrine where believers stay in a compound and authorities found 16 unregistered graves, including those of infants, and more than 250 children used as cheap labor.
In a statement, police spokesman Paul Nyathi said Ishmael Chokurongerwa, 56, a 鈥渟elf-styled鈥 prophet, led a sect with more than 1,000 members at a farm about 34 kilometers (21 miles) north-west of the capital, Harare, where the children were staying alongside other believers.
The children 鈥渨ere being used to perform various physical activities for the benefit of the sect鈥檚 leadership,鈥 he said. Of the 251 children, 246 had no birth certificates.
鈥淧olice established that all children of school-going age did not attend formal education and were subjected to abuse as cheap labor, doing manual work in the name of being taught life skills,鈥 said Nyathi.
Police said among the graves they found were those of seven infants whose burials were not registered with authorities.
He said police officers raided the shrine on Tuesday. Chokurongerwa, who called himself the Prophet Ishmael, was arrested together with seven of his aides 鈥渇or criminal activities which include abuse of minors.鈥
Nyathi said more details will be released 鈥渋n due course as investigations unfold.鈥
A state-run tabloid, H-Metro, which accompanied police during the raid, showed police in riot gear arguing with female believers in white garments and head cloths who demanded the return of children who were put into a waiting police bus. It is not clear where police took the children, and some women who accompanied them.
鈥淲hy are they taking our children? We are comfortable here. We don鈥檛 have a problem here,鈥 shouted one of the women in a video posted on the newspaper鈥檚 X, formerly Twitter, account.
According to the newspaper, police officers armed with guns, tear smoke and trained dogs 鈥渟taged a spectacular raid鈥 on the shrine. Believers described the compound as 鈥渢heir promised land."
One of Chokurongerwa鈥檚 aides gave an interview to the newspaper.
鈥淥ur belief is not from scriptures, we got it directly from God who gave us rules on how we can enter heaven. God forbids formal education because the lessons learnt at such schools go against his dictates,鈥 he said, adding that 鈥淕od told us that it won鈥檛 rain if we send our children to school. Look at the drought out there, yet we are receiving rains here. We have the gift of a spiritual ear to hear God鈥檚 voice,鈥 he said.
Apostolic groups that infuse traditional beliefs into a Pentecostal doctrine are popular in the deeply religious southern African country.
There has been little detailed research on Apostolic churches in Zimbabwe, but UNICEF studies estimate it is the largest religious denomination with around 2.5 million followers in a country of 15 million. Some of the groups adhere to a doctrine demanding that followers avoid formal education for their children for members who must instead seek healing through their faith in prayer, holy water and anointed stones.
Others have in recent years begun allowing their members to visit hospitals and enroll children in school following intense campaigns by the government and non-governmental organizations.
In April last year, police in Kenya arrested a pastor who allegedly in order to meet Jesus.
The country鈥檚 top prosecutor in January ordered that the pastor, Paul Mackenzie, and over 90 people from the doomsday cult be charged with murder, cruelty, child torture and other crimes in the deaths of 429 people believed to be members of the church.
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