The head of a London church has been arrested on suspicion of murdering his British wife during a visit to Ghana.
Eric Isaiah Adusah, a self-proclaimed prophet and evangelical Christian preacher based in Tottenham, is being held in custody in the west African country after his wife, Charmain, 41, was found dead in the couple’s hotel room.
Her body was discovered lying in a bath on March 20, three days after Mr Adusah, 28, had left the hotel in Koforidua, south Ghana, and told staff that his pregnant wife did not wish to be disturbed.
The couple, who lead the Global Light Revival Ministries church, had traveled to Mr Adusah’s native Ghana at the end of last month to attend a three-day religious conference, led by controversial evangelist John Yaw Adu.
The preacher, who claims to deliver “impartation from the Holy Spirit”, has made regular appearances on evangelical television shows, offering “healing and deliverance”.
Ms Adusah, who grew up in Arbroath, Scotland, married Mr Adusah last September and was known as the “first lady” of the congregation. The former NHS radiography assistant, whose maiden name was Speirs, is understood to have an eight-year-old son from a previous relationship who had not joined the couple in Ghana.
The church is a registered charity that has branches in Edinburgh and Manchester and has received more than £1m in donations since being founded by Mr Adusah in 2010. A Christmas message from the couple to members of the ministry is signed from “Prophet Eric Isaiah”.
Christine Stephen, 42, of Camberley, Surrey, who has known Ms Adusah since childhood, told The Mail on Sunday that the family did not hear about her death until 21 March.
“I spoke to Charmain’s family and they said Eric had been in touch on that Saturday to say she had died. He said he was flying back to Ghana to identify her body on Sunday. He also told them he had returned to England because he had a three-day church event he had to attend here,” she said.
“Charmain’s family couldn’t get hold of him after that Saturday, presumably because he had been arrested back in Ghana.”
Ms Stephen added: “We thought he tried to cut her off from us, that he had brainwashed her. What person declares himself a prophet? Charmain was religious but she wasn’t a pastor.”
A spokesman for the Criminal Investigation Department in Koforidua reportedly said Mrs Adusah was “found dead in the bath lying prostrate with a white towel wrapped around her, almost in a decomposed state.”
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We can confirm the death of a British national in Ghana. Mr Adusah has not requested consular assistance.”
A spokesman for the church said “everything is being dealt with by the police” and declined to comment further. A statement on their website read: “Global Light Revival Church regret to announce the passing away of our First Lady Mrs Charmaine Isaiah Adusah. The Church express our deepest sympathy to our Rev Eric Isaiah Adusah and the Speirs family and stand with them in prayer at this time.”
