Pupil survives murder attempt...Pastor, wife arrested

The Ghanaian Times in a front-page human interest story, reports that the Reverend Emmanuel Larbi a 45-year-old pastor of the Bible Believers Association Church at Asante Mampong, is in the grips of the police over an attempt to draw blood from a junior secondary school student, Florence Essa Mensah, for ritual purposes.

The paper says Larbi's wife, Beatrice Serwaa, 30, and Adjei Brown, 29, a member of the church, are also in custody for aiding and abetting crime. According to the story, a search at the pastor's inner circle at Tabre, near Jamasi in Ashanti, where the attempt took place, unearthed a collection of occult books and a picture of a "murdered" baby.

The Times says the police have it that Florence, also known as Osofo Maame, was returning from a crusade by the Church of Pentecost at Mampong at about 9 p.m. last Wednesday when a taxi suddenly stopped by her. It says the driver, known as Brown, asked her to board the car, promising that he would take her home after the passengers had alighted. Florence obliged and when the taxi got to a junction near the Mampong Government Hospital, the driver sped off instead of stopping for her to alight.

The story says that as Brown sped off, Larbi sprinkled a concoction on Florence, dazing her. When she regained consciousness after two hours, she found herself handcuffed in a dark room with some shabbily dressed men. The Times says a man. Who spoke in an unfamiliar language, pulled a syringe and attempted to draw blood from her neck and ribs.

The paper says quoting Florence, a police spokesman said she mentioned the name of Jesus three times and instantly, the men became nervous. They removed the handcuff and led her through a meandering path to the main Mampong-Kumasi road about 12.30 a.m. When she got home, Florence informed her parents about the incident and they reported the case to the police. The Times says last Thursday, Florence led the police to the sanctuary where Larbi, his wife and Brow were arrested.