Rev Ebenezer Adarkwa-Yiadom 29, a renowned pastor in Kumasi who allegedly caused the death of a member of his congregation for pleading with him not to sell Olive Oil to members of his own church, has been arraigned before a Kumasi Circuit Tribunal on a murder charge.

In the dock with him are two other members of the pastor's Ebenezer Worship Centre, a charismatic church based in South Suntreso, Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.

The pastor was said to have offered one Olive oil for sale to members of his church at ?50,000 each which led Madam Afua Tutuwaa, 38, to intervene in a bid to persuade him not to sell it to the congregation for so much. Unknown to her, however, the harmless plea on her part was to lead to her death later.

When people heard that the pastor was to be put before court for trial, several people flocked to a Kumasi Circuit Tribunal last Friday to hear the alleged murder case linked to Reverend Ebenezer and the two others, Kofi Boadi and Afia Akyaa, both 26 and ushers of the Ebenezer Worship Centre.

They are alleged to have tied the deceased, Madam Afua Tutuwa to a tree charging that she was a witch and later assaulted her on Wednesday April 11, 2001. She died 45 days later.