The prime suspect in the murder of the Tema Community Four head pastor of the Assemblies of God Church has been identified as Francis Nabegmado; nephew of the late pastor.
Francis, who has been arrested, was living with the late pastor, Rev David Nabegmado, until November this year when he brought to the mission house a deity; something that triggered a misunderstanding between them.
Rev Nabegmado consequently asked his nephew to pack out of the mission house because worshiping gods was not acceptable in a Christian home.
Though family sources told 3news.com Sunday that the issue was resolved between them by some relatives, Francis was not allowed to the mission house again.
While preparing to leave his church office at the church premises for the main auditorium to deliver his last Sunday sermon for the year 2018, he was allegedly accosted by Francis who stabbed him to death.
Rev Nabegmado left behind five children and a wife.
A traumatized eyewitness who was in the church office with Rev Nabegmado when he was allegedly murdered by his nephew, told 3news.com that the incident happened at about 9:30am when the pastor was preparing to deliver his sermon.
Speaking to our correspondent Josephine Frimpong on condition of anonymity, the eyewitness said he was with the pastor in the church office when Francis entered the room wielding what appeared to be a machete.
“He entered the office and immediately stabbed the pastor in the left side of his neck, his head and in the stomach,” our correspondent quoted the eyewitness.
The eyewitness told our correspondent he quickly moved out of the office amidst shouts for help; something that caused Francis to take to his heels by scaling a wall close to the office into the neighbourhood.
“Residents and some church members say they saw the suspect escaping with the machete and bloodstains in his shirt so they pursued and arrested him nearby. He was then beaten,” our correspondent reported.
Meanwhile, the eyewitness said the pastor struggled and managed to move out of the office to the church premises and the church members immediately rushed him to the Tema General Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.