Panic has gripped church members after a popular Cameroonian pastor, Frankline Ndifor, who claimed he could cure Coronavirus (COVID-19) patients, died of the disease.

Pastor Ndifor was said to have been praying for COVID-19 patients and others with suspected symptoms of the virus at his home and his church in Douala, the Voice of America (VOA) reports.

The pastor was known for claiming that he could miraculously cure COVID-19. Photo credits: Daily Mail
The doctor who treated the pastor, Dr Gaelle Nnanga, disclosed that the cleric died on Saturday, May 16, less than 10 minutes after suffering severe respiratory difficulties resulting from COVID-19.

He said some members of the pastor’s church called the medical team to come to treat the cleric when they found out that he was in agony.

One of the followers of the pastor, Rigobert Che said the cleric on Wednesday, May 13, prayed for him and several dozen people diagnosed with COVID-19 recently.

“This is a pastor that has been laying hands [on the sick] and claiming that he cures COVID-19,” Rigobert Che said.

“If you, the person that claims that you are curing COVID-19, you are dead, what about the fellow people that were affected by the COVID-19? Now that he is dead, I do not know how the people that he was laying hands on will be healed.”

Some of the pastor supporters who refused to believe that he was dead blocked entrances to his premises and prayed for his resurrection.

The Cameroonian police had to use force to gain access to his residence. The pastor has been buried in front of his residence by workers of Cameroon’s COVID-19 response team in Douala.