{"id":132213,"date":"2026-02-26T06:02:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T06:02:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/bungoma-pastor-associate-arrested-with-live-forest-cobra-intended-for-ritual-use\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T06:02:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T06:02:52","slug":"bungoma-pastor-associate-arrested-with-live-forest-cobra-intended-for-ritual-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/bungoma-pastor-associate-arrested-with-live-forest-cobra-intended-for-ritual-use\/","title":{"rendered":"Bungoma \u2018Pastor\u2019, associate arrested with live forest cobra intended for ritual use"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 26 \u2014 A self-styled Bungoma \u2018pastor\u2019 and his associate have been arrested after police officers found them transporting a live forest cobra allegedly intended for ritual use.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The two suspects were intercepted at around 2pm in Kanduyi Sub-Location, approximately two kilometres south of Bungoma Police Station, while riding a red motorcycle during a routine patrol.<\/p>\n<p>Police identified the suspects as Nahashon Atela Ochieng, 38, also known as \u201cPastor,\u201d and Emmanuel Reagan Maloba, 23, both residents of Koyonzo Village in Kakamega County.<\/p>\n<p>Upon searching the suspects at the police station, officers recovered a live forest cobra described as white and black in colour and measuring approximately 2.5 metres in length.<\/p>\n<p>According to the police report, Ochieng claimed he discovered the snake after allegedly receiving a spiritual vision, which led him to dig up the reptile from a corner of his parents\u2019 home.<\/p>\n<p>He reportedly intended to use the cobra in a ritual burning at a church in Bukembe.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities immediately notified the Kenya Wildlife Service, whose officers responded and safely collected the snake before transporting it to Kitale Museum for identification, documentation, and secure storage.<\/p>\n<p>The two suspects remain in police custody and are expected to be arraigned at the Bungoma Law Courts, where they will face charges related to illegal possession and handling of a live wildlife species.<\/p>\n<p>The charges fall under Sections 95(c) and (d) of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act (Cap 376), which criminalizes unauthorized possession, dealing, or handling of protected wildlife.<\/p>\n<p>Police also impounded the motorcycle used to transport the snake as evidence in the case.<\/p>\n<p>Wildlife authorities have repeatedly warned that handling protected species without authorization is a serious offence that poses risks to both human safety and biodiversity conservation.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 26 \u2014 A self-styled Bungoma \u2018pastor\u2019 and his associate have been arrested after police officers found them transporting a live forest cobra allegedly intended for ritual use. The two suspects were intercepted at around 2pm in Kanduyi Sub-Location, approximately two kilometres south of Bungoma Police Station, while riding a red motorcycle during [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132213\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}