Police arrest 'doomsday seer' for sowing panic

ADDIS ABABA: Police in Ethiopia’s northern Amhara regional state have arrested a “doomsday seer” who caused widespread panic over claims his village would be wiped out on Monday, state media reported.

The state-owned Amhara Mass Media Agency (AMMA) reported that the “seer” had told his followers in the village of Ergoye that he had recently returned from heaven with a gloomy message.

“I have just returned from paradise with a message. The people in my area will be wiped out on Monday,” AMMA reported him as saying.

The prediction prompted residents to shut schools and businesses for several days, the AMMA reported.

Ethiopia is a deeply conservative society, with surveys showing the vast majority of Ethiopians believe in a supernatural deity.

In recent years, the proliferation of quasi-evangelical movements and charismatic preachers has sometimes spawned “cult leaders”