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Last few days, five members of a controversial religious sect in Benin have died from asphyxiation after they locked themselves into prayer rooms and burned incense and charcoal as they waited for the world to end, residents and a survivor told Reuters.
Several more were hospitalised after a religious cult told followers to seal themselves into prayer rooms and burn incense and charcoal, residents and a survivor said.
The group, whose name in French translates as the “Very Holy Church of Jesus Christ of Baname’’, has thousands of adherents across the country and has stirred tensions by vehemently opposing the local voodoo culture.
Its young woman leader, Vicentia Chanvoukini, known by her followers as “Lady Perfect’’, has proclaimed herself a god.
“With the help of old cloths, we sealed off all of the exits to the prayer room before using incandescent charcoal and incense to prepare for the descent of the Holy Spirit,’’ said survivor Yves Aboua at the Porto Novo hospital where he was admitted with respiratory problems on Sunday.
Church members were told to stay in their prayer rooms until Sunday so as “not to be held accountable’’ when the world ended, he said.
Several other people remain in hospital in critical condition, according to residents and hospital workers.
Several more were hospitalised after a religious cult told followers to seal themselves into prayer rooms and burn incense and charcoal, residents and a survivor said.
The group, whose name in French translates as the “Very Holy Church of Jesus Christ of Baname’’, has thousands of adherents across the country and has stirred tensions by vehemently opposing the local voodoo culture.
Its young woman leader, Vicentia Chanvoukini, known by her followers as “Lady Perfect’’, has proclaimed herself a god.
“With the help of old cloths, we sealed off all of the exits to the prayer room before using incandescent charcoal and incense to prepare for the descent of the Holy Spirit,’’ said survivor Yves Aboua at the Porto Novo hospital where he was admitted with respiratory problems on Sunday.
Church members were told to stay in their prayer rooms until Sunday so as “not to be held accountable’’ when the world ended, he said.
Several other people remain in hospital in critical condition, according to residents and hospital workers.
