Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. A gang armed with pistols and machetes reportedly stormed a Bulawayo-based self-proclaimed prophet (madzibaba)’s church service, forcing him to flee for his life.
According to B-Metro, the incident occurred on Sunday last week in West Nicholson, Matabeleland South province.
Archbishop Emmanuel Mutumwa leader of the Johanne Masowe eChishanu was ministering to his congregants when he was confronted by the eight-member gang.
The assailants are believed to have been friends of a gold miner from Gwanda who recently died in a road accident on his way to Bulawayo.
They stormed the shrine and tried to attack Archbishop Mutumwa as revenge after he allegedly prophesied the gold miner’s death.
At around 5 PM, the assailants approached Archbishop Mutumwa and ordered him to end the service saying he should follow them.
B-Metro reported a source as saying the assailants told Mutumwa that they did not want the members of the church to be caught in the crossfire.
When some members of the congregation asked why they were being asked to leave early, one of the gang members allegedly drew a gun from behind and pointed it at Archbishop Mutumwa’s face before other gang members ran to their vehicles to get machetes.
Archbishop Mutumwa then jumped into his car and drove off at high speed while his assailants pursued him for about 30 kilometres.
At one point, the gang members allegedly tried to force Archbishop Mutumwa to drive into a bridge, pointing a gun at him the whole time.
The source, who is a senior member of the church who witnessed the incident, was quoted as saying:
He was (Archbishop Mutumwa) chased by the gang for about 30 kilometres along the Gwanda-Beitbridge highway.
He later sought help from police officers and soldiers manning a roadblock near Makhado Business Centre.
He narrated his ordeal to them and they later sought help from police officers from Gwanda Town who later escorted him to Bulawayo.
Archbishop Mutumwa is now living in fear of being harmed by the suspects after they vowed to kill him.
The suspects also harassed some church members accusing them of supporting the prophet. He went into hiding soon after he reported the matter to the police.
Archbishop Mutumwa later told B-Metro that he reported the matter to the Police and said that he was glad that no one was injured in the incident. He said:
It is true that a gang armed with pistols and machetes stormed and disrupted my church service while threatening to shoot me and later attacked church members with machetes.
They chased me for about 30 kilometres while trying to shoot me. They only retreated after they failed to catch up with me…
Violence is never the answer, and we should all respect each other’s beliefs and opinions.
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) spokesperson in Matabeleland South Province Inspector Loveness Mangena said she had not yet received the report of the incident.
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