Kenya seeks to extradite 'miracle bishop'

Kenyan police sought an international arrest warrant today for a London-based preacher in connection with his role in a suspected international child-trafficking ring.

Investigators applied for the warrant in a Nairobi magistrate’s court to begin extradition proceedings against the self-proclaimed archbishop Gilbert Deya, whose church is based in Peckham, south-east London, said Gideon Kibunja, spokesman for the criminal investigation department.

Kibunja said the extradition proceedings in Kenya and Britain could take at least two weeks.

On Monday, Deya’s wife and four others were charged with stealing two children, infants Deya claims are the result of miracles he performed on infertile or post-menopausal women.

Kibunja said a nursing aide has also been arrested in connection with the case, but he declined to provide any details.

DNA tests of the two children showed they did not belong to any of the adults. The tests of 15 other children found at the adults’ homes also showed they didn’t belong to the suspects.

Prosecutors have said the investigation into alleged child-trafficking involves suspects in Britain, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda, as well as Kenya.

Following the DNA test results, one of the five suspects, Miriam Nyeko, who holds a British passport but was born in Uganda, was charged separately on Wednesday for stealing a baby in July.

All have pleaded innocent and were given bail. Their trial is scheduled for November 3.