Mummified Body Found Buried Under Nigerian Prophet’s Church in Cameroon; Cleric Still at Large

A mummified body believed to be that of a woman was discovered on Saturday buried in a clandestine coffin beneath a concrete slab at a property linked to Nigerian-born preacher Kedi Samuel Kenechukwu in the Nkoabang suburb of Yaoundé, Cameroon, authorities have confirmed.

Officers from the Nkoabang Special Police Station made the grim find at around 9 a.m. on 19 September during an ongoing investigation into Kenechukwu, founder of the Mercy of God Ministry. Investigators broke through a reinforced concrete slab and unearthed a white-and-gold coffin, its glass lid shattered, buried approximately 1.5 metres underground. Inside lay the remains of a person in an advanced state of mummification, dressed in a traditional blue outfit with gold embroidery and resting on padding. Officials described the site as “not a normal grave” but a carefully concealed clandestine burial.

The identity of the deceased has not been officially released, and the circumstances of the death and the burial remain under investigation.

Local residents, reportedly frustrated by the presence of the compound and earlier police activity, had begun damaging parts of the concrete covering, which helped draw investigators’ attention to the hidden area.

Kenechukwu, also known as Ekedi Samuel, is a Nigerian national who has operated in Cameroon since 2018. He is currently on the run and has been declared wanted by Cameroonian authorities on allegations including human trafficking, kidnapping and unlawful detention.

Border security agencies have been placed on alert and Interpol has been brought into the search.

The discovery comes roughly ten days after a major search of the same Nkoabang property on 9 September. During that operation, conducted in the presence of a deputy state counsel and senior gendarmerie officers, investigators recovered five vehicles, several hundred kilogrammes of food supplies, functioning freezers, approximately 30 rooms and a pit about two metres deep. Kenechukwu was not present and remains at large.

The case is linked to earlier rescues involving properties associated with the ministry. In one recent operation, security forces freed 20 people — ten women, eight men and two children aged six and seven — who had been held in a basement in the Montée Mosquée Ngousso neighbourhood of Yaoundé. Residents had reported suspicious activity at the isolated site, which was used as both a prayer space and dormitory without adequate ventilation.

Cameroonian media have described the Mercy of God Ministry as operating behind a religious façade while authorities investigate a network of properties, bunkers and underground spaces.

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The latest findings have intensified scrutiny of unregulated neo-Pentecostal and charismatic ministries in the country, some of which have faced previous government pressure to comply with regulations or shut down.

As of Wednesday, 23 September, the investigation into the mummified remains and the broader activities of the ministry continues.

Authorities have not indicated whether further victims or additional evidence may still be uncovered at the sites. The preacher’s whereabouts remain unknown.