MONTEGO BAY, ST. JOHN — One woman fled Pathway International Kingdom Restoration Ministries in Albion, St James, after witnessing a fellow congregant's throat being slashed. The woman, who did not want to be identified, said she was about to join her son and daughter inside when she witnessed the heinous murder.
"I was waiting to go in... when I saw the lady's throat being slashed; I made my decision to leave," she told the Jamaica Observer yesterday afternoon as she hurriedly removed two bags containing her personal belongings from in front of the premises' gate.
"It was a very intense experience." When I saw blood and the young lady collapsed, I said to myself, 'This is it for me,' and walked away; I couldn't stay, I couldn't. When I started to put one and one together, I saw two lady church members jump the fence, so I said, 'No, this can't be right,' and those two were normally close to [the pastor]," the woman continued.
She said she had to "beg a call" from a community resident to ask for a ride home after obeying the pastor's request to leave cellphones at home before attending what was supposed to be a three-day convention. She also assisted another churchgoer. She explained that she needed a ride away from the location.
"The police and soldiers told the others to leave, but they remained standing. "However, I made a phone call and walked down the road to wait," she explained.
The bizarre stand-off between members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and some Pathway International members on Sunday night left three people dead and another three with stab wounds after police acted on intelligence to prevent acts of human sacrifice.
However, another female congregant with whom the Observer spoke yesterday as she walked towards the church said the plan, as she understood it, was for members to attend a three-day convention.
She was dressed all in white and stated that she was unaware of the events of Sunday night because she was having phone problems. She had come all the way from Lilliput to attend the worship service.
"This is a Pentecostal church, not a Yahweh church." "It's just a regular church that I joined," she explained.
She was visibly taken aback by the heavy police presence on the scene. She denied any knowledge of the allegations of human sacrifice after being briefed.
"I only know him as a prophet; I don't know anything else about him." I'm not sure what's going on because I live so far away. I arrived on Saturday and left yesterday morning, so I returned today. "I have no idea what's going on." She stated.
The woman claimed that the pastor's frequent Facebook messages instructing his congregation to leave their phones at home in order to keep the "ark" from leaving them were "normal."
She claimed that the animals seen roaming the grounds and rumoured to be inside the building were destined for the pastor's "ark."
According to sources, the building contains a large number of "valuable items," as well as a wide variety of perishable food and livestock. According to one source, there is also an ark-themed room and numerous cellars filled with additional food.
Several phones wrapped in aluminium foil and bags containing personal items for many of the congregants were found inside the building yesterday, alongside bloodstains that served as a stark reminder of what happened on Sunday.
Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries of Montego Bay describes Bishop Dr Kevin Ontoniel Smith as a "highly distinguished Jamaican-born child prodigy, entrepreneur, and globe traveller to over 94 countries worldwide" on its Facebook page.
It goes on to say that his "extraordinary achievements" have "made him a respectable and recognisable global influential force and world leader in and throughout Christendom and the corporate sphere; "All of this was accomplished before the age of 30."
Major General Antony Anderson, who was on the scene yesterday, told reporters that the police were called after a female member of the congregation was taken to the hospital with stab wounds.
"A congregant here, a member of this church, who had been injured — apparently when she chose to disobey some instructions given to her by the leaders of this organisation — reported to the police that she had been injured, and other information that led us to believe that the people here were in danger," Anderson explained.
He claimed that the police responded quickly but were met with gunfire from a member of the congregation present.
"The first team of cops to arrive was shot at, so they waited for reinforcements." We were concerned that some sort of ritualised killing would take place here, so we made an entry last night. "We discovered that a couple of people had been injured by other church members," the police commissioner added.
Anderson confirmed that law enforcement had been suspicious of the facility for some time, and he praised St James Police Division senior superintendent of police Vernon Ellis and his team for their efforts.
"They've been on the radar, but not necessarily in relation to what happened [Sunday]." However, as soon as it was brought to our attention, we responded based on what we saw. I think it was really good, and kudos to Senior Superintendent Vernon Ellis and his team for taking it seriously and moving so quickly to resolve this matter. "Otherwise, we could have had more people killed," Anderson explained.
Two members of the congregation were killed in what is believed to be human sacrifice, while another was killed in a shootout with police.
According to the police commissioner, 42 members of the congregation are currently in police custody, and 14 children are in the care of the state.
"Anything like this makes me nervous. Hopefully, this isn't the start of a trend. "I don't see any evidence of that, but it is a cause for concern," he said.
Dr. Horace Chang, minister of national security and member of parliament for the St James North Western constituency, which includes the church, praised the police for their quick response.
"As the commissioner indicated, if the police had not intervened last night after the injured lady came to the police... we could have had far more serious incidents last night," he said.
He noted that, following Sunday's standoff, the organisation can now be forced to close, whereas before, even with suspicions, the police could do nothing.
"Before that, it is a matter of how you intervene." The issue of their right to assemble and gather, as well as their right to religion, has been raised, and it is something that we will have to look into, but based on my understanding of current legislation and the constitution, it will be difficult to do anything to prevent the events from occurring."
"It's just a stroke of luck that one lady — I suspect because she was witnessing the trauma of the events she was witnessing — broke the cycle... She came out and told everyone what was going on. But the reality is that a lot of these things happen and may continue to happen, but the police can only do so much until something changes," he added. SEE VIDEOS BELOW
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