A pastor who drew attention for claiming he could heal sufferers of coronavirus has himself died of the disease. Pastor Frankline Ndifor of Kingship International Ministries Church in Cameroon was convinced he could heal anyone of the illness by simply laying hands on them.
Ndifor reportedly died just a week after contracting the disease, passing away on 16th May at his home in Cameroon's economic capital of Douala. His house was mobbed by devoted followers who broke out in singing and insisted that he would be resurrected. With so many people blocking the entrance to his home, police eventually had to force entry. According to the governor of Cameroon’s coastal region, the authorities were called in after the pastor's followers chased medical staff away, insisting that their leader was on a "spiritual retreat with God," rather than deceased.
His death has left many of his followers terrified of the virus.
One of Ndifor's church members said: "This is a pastor that has been laying hands [on the sick] and claiming that he cures COVID-19.
"If you, the person that claims that you are curing COVID-19, you are dead, what about the fellow people that were affected by the COVID-19? Now that he is dead, I do not know how the people that he was laying hands on will be healed."
Medics are asking all who came into close contact with pastor Ndifor to get tested for COVID-19. The pastor, who was called a "prophet" by many of his devotees, campaigned in Cameroon’s 2018 presidential election, placing seventh out of nine candidates with 23,687 votes.