Man demands GH₵200K compensation from The Church of Pentecost elder over wrongful arrest, alleged defamation

Stephen Okyei Antwi, a resident of Boana in the Nkoranza area, is demanding GH₵200,000 in compensation from Elder Agyei Yeboah over what he describes as his wrongful arrest and alleged defamation.

According to Stephen, the incident occurred in September 2025 when Elder Agyei Yeboah, a member of The Church of Pentecost, Dumase Central Assembly, contacted him to purchase a DriveRack PA2 sound-processing device he had advertised for sale.

Stephen, a sound engineer who rents out sound equipment, said that after they met to transact the business, the elder brought in police officers who arrested him.

He was reportedly detained overnight and subsequently taken to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Nkoranza Divisional Police Command, where he was asked to write a statement and accused of stealing the equipment.

Stephen claims that subsequent investigations, including a QR code scan of the device, established that he was innocent.

Following the incident, he said he contacted a lawyer to pursue a defamation case against Elder Agyei Yeboah and The Church of Pentecost.

However, he alleges that several attempts to resolve the matter have proved unsuccessful. He also disclosed that he resorted to raining curses on the elder in the hope of compelling him to address the issue, but to no avail.

Stephen subsequently appeared on the Obra Show, hosted by Ohemaa Benewaa, to seek justice.

Stephen subsequently appeared on the Obra Show, hosted by Ohemaa Benewaa, to seek justice.

“I have been defamed, and it has caused me financial, emotional and mental losses. These include a GH₵250,000 loan I gave to a family and my machines, which developed faults because I was unavailable to attend to them, leaving my apprentice to handle the work.

“I demand GH₵200,000 from the elder as was in the writ,” Stephen stated.

Meanwhile, Elder Agyei Yeboah reportedly declined to speak with the Obra Show team, claiming that the matter was before the court.

Stephen further alleged that the elder had earlier asked another church elder, Mr Ofori, to contact him with a warning that he was not taking on Elder Agyei Yeboah and the Dumase Central Assembly alone, but The Church of Pentecost Ghana as a whole, and that he should be careful because he could not win the case.

Stephen claimed that following the phone conversation, his own lawyer also made similar remarks, while the court case had made little progress.

He is now appealing to Elder Agyei Yeboah to compensate him to bring the matter to an amicable end and allow peace to prevail.

The Obra Show host, Ohemaa Benewaa, and her team have expressed their determination to use their networks to encourage the parties to resolve the dispute, noting that allegations of this nature could affect the reputation of the respected church.