Cameroonian police have launched a manhunt for Nigerian cleric Kedi Samuel Kenechukwu, also known as Ekedi Samuel, after a mummified body was found buried beneath his church property in Yaoundé. The remains, discovered on September 19, 2026, were found inside a coffin roughly 1.5 metres underground and appeared to belong to a woman dressed in traditional attire. The identity of the woman and the circumstances surrounding her death remain unconfirmed.
The gruesome discovery was made by officers from the Nkoabang Special Police Station during an ongoing probe into Kenechukwu, who is believed to have been running operations in Cameroon since 2018. Local residents had reportedly damaged parts of the property beforehand, exposing the hidden underground chamber to investigators. The police found a white-and-gold coffin holding the mummified body dressed in traditional blue attire with gold embroidery.
This is not the first unsettling find tied to Kenechukwu's property. A search conducted ten days earlier, on September 9, turned up five vehicles, hundreds of kilogrammes of stockpiled food, working freezers, close to 30 rooms, and a separate two-metre pit whose function investigators could not immediately explain. This search followed an earlier operation on September 6 at another site linked to Kenechukwu's Mercy of God Ministry in Yaoundé's Ngousso area.
During the September 6 operation, officers reportedly found 20 people, including 10 women, 8 men, and 2 children aged six and seven, confined inside a basement. Kenechukwu now faces accusations spanning human trading, unlawful detention, and kidnapping. The cleric has yet to be located, and Cameroonian authorities have since alerted border security agencies and brought Interpol into the search for him.
The investigation into both the newly discovered remains and the broader activities linked to Kenechukwu's ministry's properties continues, with officials yet to disclose whether more victims or evidence may still be found. Kenechukwu's ministry, known as the Mercy of God Ministry, appears to have a wider network, with multiple properties and operations in Cameroon.
This incident bears some resemblance to a recent case in Ghana, where a Ghanaian pastor, Rev. Emmanuel Boakye-Danquah, went into hiding after National Security uncovered an alleged multimillion-dollar counterfeit currency operation allegedly run out of his church in Klagon. Investigators reportedly found the church's administrative offices and residential quarters being used to produce and store counterfeit notes.
The search for Kenechukwu and the investigation into his activities remain ongoing. Authorities are working to determine the identity of the mummified body and the circumstances surrounding her death, as well as uncover the full extent of Kenechukwu's operations and any potential victims.
Key points
- - A mummified body was discovered buried beneath the church property of Nigerian cleric Kedi Samuel Kenechukwu in Yaoundé, Cameroon. - Kenechukwu faces accusations of human trading, unlawful detention, and kidnapping, and is currently on the run. - The investigation into Kenechukwu's activities and the discovery of the mummified body is ongoing, with Interpol involved in the search for the cleric.
