Self-proclaimed archbishop Gilbert Deya is selling “anointed” olive oil at £5 (Sh730) as a miracle cure for cancer and HIV, The Sun has reported.
The 63-year-old preacher, who leads Gilbert Deya Ministries, claims the oil, if used on food, can make cancer “disappear”.
He is selling the oil, which retails at £1.99 (Sh290) in supermarkets, at his church’s shop in South London.
The Sun’s undercover reporters accessed the church’s headquarters in Peckham by posing as a husband and his cancer-stricken wife.
They were given a leaflet with misspellings that explained the oil’s “mystical powers”, including overcoming illness and debt.
One of Deya’s associates reportedly rubbed oil onto the woman’s chest, declaring: “This is the start of your miracle.” She was pushed to the ground as the pastor shouted “witchcraft must go”.
Deya reportedly told the congregation: “We have seen many miracles happen – healing of cancer, fibroids and many things beyond the medication of the doctor.”
Apart from “curing” cancer and HIV, he told the couple he could help the infertile conceive “miracle babies”.
Deya then called four children he claimed were born of the same mother, at six-month intervals, as a result of his prayers.
Deya’s son, Amos, reportedly asked for a £700 (Sh102,000) “sacrifice” from the couple, saying he could help them conceive, then rubbed oil on their heads and indicated he expected a donation after the miracle.
“The day she wakes up and does the blue test that I have prayed for...you don’t go to Nandos and celebrate, you run to the house of God,” he instructed.
In 2006, Deya was arrested by Scotland Yard following allegations he stole five children from a slum in Kenya after he claimed his congregants gave birth following his prayers.
DNA results showed they were not the mothers. Police arrested his wife after they found 10 children at the preacher’s home in Nairobi, but he fled to the United Kingdom.
In 2011 when the Kenyan government asked to have Deya extradited to face child abduction charges, the UK agreed on condition he is held at either Kamiti or Nairobi West prisons.
In a note to the Foreign Affairs ministry, the UK asked that Deya, who has also been tried in London for rape, be remanded at the Kamiti Special Unit in Nairobi.
Deya fought the move to be sent back to Kenya to face the law, arguing it would amount to a breach of his human rights.
But an MP from the UK has been campaigning for his deportation after a couple in his constituency returned from Kenya with a “miracle baby”.
“For more than a decade I have been pressing for Gilbert Deya to face justice for his child trafficking and cruel exploitation of vulnerable people,” David Lammy said.
After The Sun’s probe, Charities Commission launched an investigation into Gilbert Deya Ministries, which banked £865,620 (Sh1.27 million) in donations in 2014.
