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Tag: Rev. King

  • Rev King and his diehard flock

    Rev King and his diehard flock

    If there is an award for group gullibility, the followers of the condemned murderer Rev. King of the Christian Praying Assembly Worldwide should have the trophy.

    The Supreme Court on February 27, 2016 affirmed the death sentence passed on King for killing one of his followers, Ann King (all members of this strange church bear his name). He had doused her with petrol and set her on fire for alleged infidelity. Ann died on August 2, 2006 a painful death that sparked an outrage.

    Rev King lived like a strange god. Women must be naked while serving him food. Members must be on their knees whenever he walked by.  Erring congregants were routinely flogged like kids. All that collapsed at the prison where he is awaiting the hangman – the queue is said to be long for shortage of hands for this delicate job.

    To his fervent followers, it’s long live the king! On his birthday last Monday, they bought many pages in a newspaper and splashed his photographs – big suits, mullah beard and all – on them. The praises were effusive. “Daddy, thank you for your love, protection, provisions …open doors. You are the great I am, the ancient of days.”

    And this: “The man of the moment and every moment. The last preacher of the truthful gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ… You thought (sic?) us how to live a holy life. You are unchangeable and unstoppable God. You shall continue to live and reign forever… .”

    Is there no limit to imbecility?

  • Lagos, Falana and fate of Rev. King

    SIR: My attention was drawn to the raging controversy on whether it is constitutionally legal for the execution of condemned inmates on death row. This controversy, from my findings, was ignited from a statement credited the Lagos State Attorney General, Adeniji Kazeem who during a press conference was alleged to have stated that the state government had taken a decision to go ahead with the execution of inmates on death row in Lagos Prisons.

    From all newspaper reports emanating from the said press conference of the Attorney General, nowhere did he categorically state that a decision had been taken to execute Rev. King and other prisoners on death row in Lagos Prisons.

    The Punch of April 19, carried the report with the heading: “Death Sentence: Lagos Decides Rev. King, Others’ Fate Soon. I quote: “The Lagos State Attorney General/Commissioner for Justice, Mr Adeniji Kazeem, has said the State will soon decide the fate of the founder of Christian Praying Assembly, Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, popularly known as Rev. King and other prisoners on death row in the state.”

    I am still at a loss as to why this harmless statement reported to have been made by the Lagos Attorney General should have become an issue of controversy in the first instance. However, since I am not holding brief for the Attorney General as to whether he said what was alleged to him or not, I am more concerned with the legal interpretation of the constitutional provision that has been argued by my respected learned Silk, Femi Falana in his reported letter to the governor of Lagos State, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode.

    He had argued that the planned execution of death row inmates in the state would violate a subsisting judgment delivered by Justice Mufutau Olokooba of the Lagos State High Court on June 29, 2012, which ruled that it was illegal and unconstitutional, and a violation of Section 34(1)(a) of the Constitution which prescribed death by hanging and firing squad amounts to a violation of the condemned inmate’s right to the dignity of human person and amount to inhuman and degrading treatment and it is consequently unconstitutional.

    Unarguably, Section 33 (1) of the 1999 Constitution guarantees the right to life of every person. The provision of the section however permits the deprivation of life of any person in the execution of the sentence of a court of law in respect of a criminal offence for which he has been found guilty in Nigeria. This was extensively considered by the Supreme Court (sitting as a Constitutional Court) in the case of ONUOHA KALU V. THE STATE (1988) 11-12 S.C. 4. Where it was held that death sentence was not unconstitutional and that to argue otherwise will be tantamount to embarking on an exercise aimed at defeating the clear provisions of the constitution.

    The Supreme Court has in a plethora of authorities affirmed the Judgments of a number of lower courts for the offences of death and has pronounced on the mode of execution. In particular, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeal in the case of Chukwuemeka Ezeogu vs. State (2016) LPELR – 40046 SC, which similarly affirmed the decision of the High Court which stated thus: “…..in respect of count 6, the sentence of this court upon you Chukwuemeka Ezeuko alias  Dr. Rev King is that you be hanged by the neck until you be dead and may the Lord have mercy on your soul…..”

    The decision of Olokooba J. as highlighted in the case of Ajulu & Ors. V. Attorney General of Lagos State (unreported) Suit No. ID/76M/2008 of 29th June, 2012 lacks merit when viewed against the Supreme Court Judgment in the above stated case. The position of the law is clear and unambiguous as to the finality of the decision of the Supreme Court.  In the Supreme Court, the decision of that Court in so far as that case is concerned is final for all ages and final for ever. Only legislation can alter it.

    This is purely a legal stand and should not be compromised by emotion and all other such needless considerations.

     

    • David Izorite Esq,

    Lagos.

  • Lagos to sign death warrant on Rev King, others

    Lagos to sign death warrant on Rev King, others

    The Lagos State Government has said it is working on the death warrant for the execution of the General-Overseer of the Christian Praying Assembly, Rev. Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, popularly called Reverend King, as well as other condemned prisoners.
    Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem, broke the news yesterday while addressing reporters at the kick-off of the yearly ministerial press conference.
    He said it was necessary for the government to examine the issue because some convicts on death row were beginning to ask for certain rights, since they felt no action would be taken against them.
    Over 202 condemned prisoners were in solitary confinement in Lagos prisons as at April 5.
    It was learnt that Rev King was moved from Abuja to the Northeast to forestall incessant visits by his die-hard followers.
    The Supreme Court, on February 26, affirmed the death sentence passed on Rev King by Justice Joseph Oyewole of High Court of Lagos State (now Justice of the Court of Appeal) on January 11, 2007, for the murder of one of his church members, Ann Uzoh.
    Ezeugo challenged the verdict at the Court of Appeal in Lagos, which also affirmed the decision of the lower court.
    The cleric was said to have poured petrol on Uzor and five others before setting them ablaze. Uzoh died on August 2, 2006, 11 days after the incident.
    Kazeem said: “This government is very strong on law and order. The case is one of those under review. Like him (Rev King), many others are on death row. Very soon, residents of Lagos will see the action of the government on it.
    “There are lots of people on death row. There are some states that have been active in enforcing the judgment. I know that many had zeroed in on Rev. King. I discussed his issues actively with the prison authority during my recent prison visit and it was on the instruction of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode. That showed that it is a sensitive issue.
    “I have given you an indication that we are moving towards that direction. The previous governors did not sign (papers) on any of those death sentences. But the prison authority has informed that some of the convicts on death row are beginning to think they have some rights. We are going to move in that direction, you will hear from me.”

  • Rev King: Birthday on death row

    This is what happens when death row becomes a place of life. A full-page congratulatory communication published in THISDAY on February 27 was a remarkable reminder that Rev. Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, better known as Rev. King, has not been hanged despite a Supreme Court ruling.
    Under the banner, “Congratulations to our Daddy G. O.”, the communication began: “We the entire members of St. Faith Women (The Daughters of the Kingdom of God) heartily rejoice with our lovely Daddy G.O.  His Holiness, The Most Honourable Dr. Rev. King, Founder/General Overseer of CPA Church Worldwide on the occasion of his birthday which comes up today, Sunday the 26th day of February  2017.” This happened because King has not been hanged.
    The advertisers continued: “Daddy, you are the light of the world. A nation without you is in total darkness. Daddy, you are a wonderful counselor, prince of peace, a great deliverer, our redeemer, a hope for the down-trodden. You have proven to us beyond reasonable doubt that truly salvation belongeth unto the Lord and your blessing is upon your people.” This happened because King has not been hanged.
    Things happen when a death row convict is still alive a year after what was supposed to be the final judicial pronouncement on his case. More things were said about King in the advert space: “Widows, widowers, barren, the sorrowful have found joy, freedom, salvation from you. You alone singlehandedly taught us how to live a holy and righteous life. Barren in our midst have conceived and are mothers in their respective homes. You have delivered so many of us from inability to get married. So many of us whom you delivered from mammy-water group, ogbanje group, witches and wizards groups are happy today because we located you. Some of us who were bound with chains, feathers, shackles, handcuffs, spiritual iron belt of Satan, etc. have been freed from our respective prisons where Satan kept us for decades. Today, we are enjoying our freedom.”
    Perhaps not unexpectedly, the promoters got more enthusiastic as the promotion progressed. They said: “Era of poverty, suffer-suffer have become a thing of the past in our lives. So many of us you healed from cancers, fallopian tube blockages, moving objects, bleeding, HIV/AIDS, barrenness, fibroid, etc. are blessed to have met with our maker face to face.” This deification of King happened because he has not been hanged.
    What followed was straight out of the realm of unreality: “Daddy, it has been proven beyond measure that you are 100% innocent of the conspiracy levelled against you. So many hidden truths have been exposed according to your messages. No amount of gossips, scandals, hatred, can deter us from following you.” This attempted revision of reality happened because King has not been hanged.
    How did King become a death row prisoner? King’s trial began at the Lagos High Court in Ikeja on September 26, 2006. The cruel cleric was accused of the murder of a member of his church, Ann Uzoh, and attempted murder of five other members. He was said to have set the deceased and the others ablaze after bathing them with petrol for alleged immoral behaviour.
    Uzoh died from her burns on August 2, 2006, 11 days after the savagery. The trial judge, Justice Olubunmi Oyewole (now a Justice of the Court of Appeal),  who delivered his judgement  on January 11, 2007,  found King guilty and sentenced him to 20 years imprisonment for attempted murder. In addition, King got a death sentence for murder. The Court of Appeal backed the death sentence. The Supreme Court, by its supreme judgement on February 26, 2016, supported the supreme sentence of death by hanging.
    Murderers are penalised not only for murder; they are also penalised so that others may not become murderers. It is thought-provoking that a report said: “During the first church service after the Supreme Court verdict at the Lagos headquarters at Ajao Estate, Pastor Ifeanyi King, who preached, said: “Our G. O. (General Overseer), the Most Holiness, Rev. King, is coming back. He said he would come back and we believe the words of his mouth. We believe his report that he is coming back. Everything happening now we know is the handiwork of witches and wizards. Soon a new story will emerge.”
    Perhaps a new story is emerging, considering the content of the communication to mark King’s latest birthday on February 26. Indeed, King’s promoters need to clarify their claim: “it has been proven beyond measure that you are 100% innocent of the conspiracy levelled against you.”
    Curiously, King may live longer than his death sentence intended because, according to a report quoting a Prisons spokesman, there are no fewer than 1,639 inmates awaiting execution. This overpopulation is inexcusable. As long as the death penalty is accommodated by the country’s justice system, there is no justification for keeping condemned convicts waiting. It is unclear how long these death row convicts have been waiting; it is anti-justice for the political authorities to perpetuate their wait.
    It is complex enough to arrive at a death decision, and the complexity should not be further complicated by last-minute indecision when it comes to executing the decision. If judges are able to reach a death decision without the interference of extra-judicial considerations, the political authorities should be able to carry out the decision without the hindrance of extra-legal thoughts.
    If murder is the ultimate crime and death is the ultimate punishment, then ultimate crime deserves ultimate punishment. It is important to bring closure to this human drama of inhumanity. The longer King is allowed to live after the ultimate judicial decision, the longer it will take to close the murder case.
    It is interesting that King’s promoters called him “The man of the moment, every moment and the final moment.” They said emphatically in the birthday communication: “KING FOREVER! LIVE FOREVER!” But it is well known that no man lives forever, particularly a man on death row; and King’s promoters should know that.
    What’s the point of a death sentence that is not put into effect? What happened because King has not been hanged could happen again. More things could happen because King has not been hanged. Why has King not been hanged?

  • Rev. King didn’t manifest atrocious traits in his youth

    Rev. King didn’t manifest atrocious traits in his youth

    Attempting to speak with members of the community in Achina, Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State, where Chukwuemeka Ezeuko  not Ezeugo  hails from came with some challenge.

    Achina community shares boundary with other rural communities such as Mkpologwu and Umuchu, all in Aguata Local Government Area with a population of a little over 8, 000.

    It is a remote area that is home to the popular Oye Market, St Charles Borromeo Catholic Church and St. Peter’s Secondary School where Rev. King schooled. The acclaimed ‘man of God’, also known as Rev. King, is set for a date with the hangman based on the recent verdict of the Supreme Court.

    It was difficult to locate the traditional ruler of the place, as there are two claimants to the traditional stool of the community.

    Of the duo, Godwin Nnaemeka Obiora (the Ononenyi, Eze Idegwu III of Achina) is given recognition and staff of office by the Anambra State Government, while the other, David Eze Muokwe, is confined to an autonomous role that has not been recognised.

    When The Nation got to Umulekwe village, Isi Achina, where Rev King was born, the inhabitants appeared reluctant to comment on his family. None of the residents was ready to also point at his homestead.

    The Nation discovered that the Reverend, who is popular in Lagos, was hardly known in his village, let alone the entire community.  Rev. King was said to have left the place early in life.

    There were three Ezeukos in his paternal lineage: Sebastine Ezeuko (the eldest), Edwin Ezeuko (Rev. King’s father) and Aaron Ezeuko. All of them are deceased.

    A branch of the Christian Praying Assembly (CPA) is located inside the family house in a storey building erected by his late father who died in 1998.

    Another building on the premises was a bungalow built by the sons of his uncle, Sebastine, who died in 2000. But the CPA pastor in the compound, identified as Joseph, allegedly demolished the third building put up by the uncle’s children.

    It was said that the Ezeukos lived a cat-and-mouse life in the compound, while officials overseeing the affairs of the CPA assumed God-like superiority.

    Enquiries about the mother and siblings of Rev. King fetched the response that they live in Onitsha where his father built a house. But no one seemed to know the address.

    A resident of the village, Mr. Innocent Eze Nwosu, yielded no information, as he claimed that he never knew Rev. King. He did not grow up in Achina but his maternal home in Ogboji, Orumba South Council Area of the state, he said, “so I cannot say anything about the young man”.

    But one of Rev. King’s cousins, Tochukwu Ezeuko, did not deny his link with the controversial man of God, but emphasised the notion that the name ‘Ezeugo’ was contrived in place of the original Ezeuko.

    Tochukwu, who resides in the village with his mother, described himself as one struggling to make ends meet, while describing Rev. King and his siblings as ‘townsmen’.

    He said: “We do not know where the name Ezeugo emanated from. The last time I saw him (Rev. King) was in 1998 when his father died.

    “We are not regretting anything. One person cannot claim to be the entire world. What is happening today, we believe, is the will of God. Let God’s will be done.”

    He, however, believed that other acclaimed men of God could be doing worse than Rev. King and that the worst atrocity Rev. King committed was proclaiming himself ‘God’.

    For 56-year-old Margret Ezeuko, who claimed she is an Anglican faithful, Rev. King was a gentle youth who had no time for frivolities.

    But she was quick to add that the family members seemed to be isolated as they were not on talking terms for some years.

    Asked for the reason, Margret recalled a ‘fight’ that led to her children’s detention and demolition of their building. She said: “My husband died in the year 2000 when my children were so small. I have been taking care of them.

    “My husband married two wives, and I’m the second one. But the first one died in 2010. These people brought a man called Pastor Joseph from Umuchu in this Aguata, who erected a public address system around this upstairs and when my children came home and saw the development, they asked the man why. He got angry.

    “He started fighting Chibuike, and after the fight, he called the police and detained my children. This thing happened on December 31, 2010, and we dragged them to court. The matter is still on.

    “One good thing that nobody can take away from Rev King during his growing days is that he was so religious and the praying type, which he learnt from one Ufuma Praying House where their mother was taking them to.

    “However, members of this church (CPA) see themselves as God, and if you came there anytime they are in session, you will weep. What they do there is painful, and the kind of things they say, claiming to be men of God.

    “If he did those things the members and  those who that took him to court alleged he did, then one has no regrets. The judgment is for God. There were no such traits in him when he was growing up, unless those things manifested in Lagos.”

    One of the businessmen in the village, who did not want his name in print, told The  Nation that Rev. King was not known in the village.

    He neither visited the village nor built a house, said the businessman, adding that the subject was a ‘big man’ in Lagos but a ‘poor man’ at home.

  • Rev King: The Wages of Sin

    Rev King: The Wages of Sin

    Last Friday’s Supreme Court’s affirmation of the death sentence earlier passed on Chukwuemeka Ezeugo otherwise known as Rev King, founder and leader of a church known as Christian Praying Assembly, CPA, with headquarters at Ajao Estate, in Lagos, brought the almost 10-year-old legal battle to a close. Trouble started for King on July 26, 2006, at his residence in Ajao Estate, where he was alleged to have set some members of his church ablaze for offences, which he personally classified as “acts of fornication”. Incidentally, according to the charge sheet by the Lagos State Public Prosecutor, one of them, Ann Uzoh, later died in a Lagos hospital. The Lagos State government waded into the matter and King was brought before the Lagos High Court presided over by the no-nonsense Justice Joseph Oyewole on September 26, 2006.

    The case dragged on for about four months until January 11, 2007, when Oyewole passed the death sentence on King for the murder of Ann Uzoh. Since then, King has been languishing in jail while exploring legal options of quashing the death verdict pronounced on him. Though in prison all these years, King’s church members have continued to display an uncommon loyalty to a man they call their General Overseer, their idol. While the members have kept the church activities going in the absence of their leader or idol, they have also continued to express their undiluted loyalty through the avalanche of congratulatory messages and advertisements they place in newspapers for the yearly celebration of King’s birthday on February 26 every year.

    The story was not different last Friday, February 26, on the occasion of yet another of his birthdays which coincided with the Supreme Court verdict which affirmed his death sentence. That day, a particular national newspaper featured at least 12 full page advertisements in commemoration of his birthday this year. In some of the advertisements, King is referred to as “His Holiness, The Most Hon. Dr. Rev. King”. What this means is that to his followers, King is widely seen as today’s messiah even above Jesus Christ as they expressed in the newspaper messages. That sounds more like pure heresy. Isn’t it?

    During his trial, King admitted flogging the seven people as that was his own way of meting out justice to any recalcitrant member of his congregation. At any rate, why would any sane person take the laws into his hands by meting out corporal punishment on fellow human beings simply because they were deemed to have committed an offence? This is the same person who was said to have employed a female steward who had to mandatorily serve him while appearing stark naked every time she needed to serve him, as if she was domiciled in George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

    History is replete with many people possessed by demonic influences who have presided over their congregations like demigods while their followers regarded them as next to God, their creator. About 23 years ago, David Koresh, the American leader of the Branch Davidians religious sect, branded himself as the sect’s final prophet. Koresh was accused of seducing a 13-year-old girl, apparently with her parents’ consent, a relationship that he sanctified as a ‘spiritual marriage’. An attempt to serve Koresh with arrest and search warrants by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as part of an investigation into illegal possession of firearms and explosives, provoked the subsequent siege by the FBI which ended with the burning of the centre. Koresh and 79 others were found dead after the fire on February 28, 1993.

    Before that incident, there was the “Jonestown Massacre” on November 18, 1978, in which more than 900 members of an American cult group called the Peoples Temple died in a mass suicide-murder under the direction of their leader, Jim Jones. The mass suicide-murder took place at the so-called Jonestown settlement in the South American nation of Guyana when Jones ordered his followers to ingest poison-laced punch, while armed guards stood by. That tragedy marked the single largest loss of U.S. civilian lives in a non-natural disaster and only surpassed by the World Trade Centre massacre in New York, in September 2011.

    Back in Nigeria, in the 1970s and 1980s, there lived a man in Lagos whose real name was Olufunmilayo Immanuel Odumosu. But he fondly called himself ‘Jesu Oyingbo’, meaning, ‘Jesus of Oyingbo’. He was highly revered, adored and venerated by his disciples and followers who believed that he loomed larger than life. He taught his adherents that he was the real Jesus Christ and his presence on earth was his second coming. Indeed, many of Odumosu’s adherents had to sell their property, forsake their families and join the religious leader to build a spiritual enclave. When ‘Jesu’ died in 1988, although the self-styled religious leader had proclaimed himself as Jesu Oyingbo, he failed to resurrect the third day as he had prophesied. After his death, a lot of shocking and disgusting things which had taken place in secret were revealed. These included sexual perversion and large-scale inbreeding that allegedly took place in the commune. It was also revealed that the late Odumosu was also a husband to more than 30 women and father of dozens. Inmates of the commune ‘slept with one another’s wives’.

    Perhaps, it is the sort of commune established by ‘Jesus of Oyingbo’ that King is out to replicate in this modern day. He is not alone. There are so many of these fake pastors, evangelists and prophets who are daily misleading their followers and milking them dry in the name of religion. Even when their preaching run counter to the teachings in the Holy Bible and the Quran, nobody, not even the government, is there to raise an eyebrow. As a result of this, they go about indoctrinating their gullible followers, thereby precipitating crisis in the society.

    As the Supreme Court has given its final verdict on the Ezeugo issue, many pressure groups and his multitude of followers will certainly put pressure on the Lagos State government and perhaps, the federal government, to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment. What these people believe is that Ezeugo or King is no ordinary mortal that could be sentenced to death by a panel of ‘mere human’ judges at the Supreme Court. And they believe that anything can happen that will extricate Ezeugo from the present mess. This is where the government should prove them wrong.

    When Karl Marx said religion is the opium of the people, what he actually meant was that religion’s purpose is to create illusory fantasies for the poor. Since economic realities prevent them from finding true happiness in this life, religion steps in to tell them that this is okay because they will find true happiness in the next life. As a result of the downturn in global economy, poverty in many societies today is pervasive. That is probably why the Rev Kings of this world and others of his ilk will continue to ride roughshod on people who look up to them for succour. When the people ask for bread, they will give them stones; when they ask for fish, they give them live scorpions.

    Now that the judiciary has drawn the curtain on this ugly episode, there is the need for the government to investigate the activities of King’s church and profile its members to ascertain who and who they are, as a prelude to banning the church all together, if found wanting. Not only this. If the government must stem the current tide of religious charlatanism that is gaining currency everywhere in the country, somebody like Rev King should not be spared the hangman’s noose. The wages of sin is death!

     

  • Rev. King’s death sentence caused by witches, wizards, says Church

    Rev. King’s death sentence caused by witches, wizards, says Church

    Last Friday’s confirmation of the death sentenced passed on General overseer of the Christian Praying Assembly (CPA) Chukwuemeka Ezeugo (aka Rev. King), has been attributed to the handiwork of witches and wizards by his church members.

    The members also reaffirmed their belief that Rev. King will be spared the hangman’s noose and “return to join us.”

    The self-styled cleric was sentenced to death in 2007 for the burning to death of a member of his church in 2006. He appealed the judgment and lost before the apex court sealed his fate last Friday.

    But yesterday during the first church service after the Supreme Court decision at the Lagos headquarters at Ajao Estate, off the Murtala Muhammad Airport Road, Pastor Ifeanyi King, who preached said:  “Our G.O. (General Overseer) the most holiness, Rev King, is coming back. He said he would come back and we believe the words of his mouth. We believe his report that he is coming back. Everything happening now we know is the handiwork of witches and wizard. Soon a new story will emerge.”

    The preacher added: “Whether people realise it or not, everybody now knows his holiness, our G.O. Rev King. The front pages of newspapers are flooded with his name. People are yearning to read about him in the social media. I can confirm to you that by all these, a lot of people have become endeared to him. Our Daddy G.O. shall live forever for us in Jesus name.”

    To every word he uttered, there was a chorus of Amen by the congregation. They sang hymns and danced to mark “the birthday of the G.O.” His death sentence was confirmed on his birthday last Friday.

    Pastor Ifeanyi, sported a shaved head and beards like Pastor king. A number of male in the congregation also appeared in the same way. Most of the pastors also use the name King as substitute for their surname.

  • Supreme Court: Rev King must die by hanging

    Supreme Court: Rev King must die by hanging

    Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, a.k.a Reverend King ,the General Overseer of Lagos-based Christian Praying Assembly, yesterday lost an eight year legal battle to save his neck from the hangman’s noose   after the Supreme Court insisted he must keep a date with the executioner.

    The apex court affirmed   the conviction and death sentence given to him by the High Court of Lagos State, Ikeja, on January 11, 2007 for attempted murder and murder.

    Justice Joseph Oyewole, now of the Court of Appeal, had found him guilty of setting ablaze six members of his church on July 22, 2006.

    One of victims, Ann Uzoh, died 11 days later in a medical facility from the burns she sustained.

    The Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, in a judgment delivered by Justice Fatimo Akinbami on February 1, 2013, affirmed the judgment of the High Court.

    Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, who read the Supreme Court’s lead judgment of the unanimous decision of a five-man bench yesterday  said: “Facts of this case could have been lifted from an horror film.”

    Reviewing the case before his ruling, Ngwuta said: “It was agreed by parties that the appellant was the General Overseer of the Christian Praying Assembly (CPA) with headquarters in Ajao Estate, Lagos. It was also agreed that he had a father-son/daughter-relationship with the victims of the incident. And this is the point where they depart:

    “The prosecution’s case is that the appellant accused six of his people (followers) of immoral behaviour. He called them together, beat each of them with hard objects and after the beating, he assembled them downstairs, made them kneel down, hobbled together and he caused petrol to be poured on them, and he struck a match and threw same at them.

    “They all sustained various degrees of burns. While five of them escaped. The sixth person, who later died, suffered 65 per cent degree burns. You can imagine what she went through in her last days at the hospital.

    “The appellant denied this. But said though he punished them for immoral behaviour, the punishment was different from the incident that gave birth to the charge. He said they (the victims) sustained injuries when a generating set exploded. That was his case. But throughout the proceedings (trial), this mysterious generating set was never produced.

    “The trial High Court convicted him as charged. And on each of counts one to five, he was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment which was to run concurrently. On the sixth count of murder, he was sentenced to death by hanging.

    “He was dissatisfied with the judgment and appealed to the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and affirmed the judgment of the trial court. And he appealed to this court.

    “Twelve  issues were distilled from the grounds of appeal. The respondents had nine issues. The nine issues were encompassed in the appellant’s 12 issues.

    “I decided to determine the appeal on those 12 issues. I considered each of them and at the end, I came to the conclusion that the appeal has no merit.

    “Having considered all the arguments by learned counsel for the parties in addition to the records, I resolve the 12 issues formulated by the appellant against him. Consequently, I hold that the appeal is bereft of merit and it is dismissed. The judgment of the Court of Appeal, which affirmed the judgment of the trial court, is hereby affirmed.

    “The prison terms for attempted murder are no longer relevant and are discountenanced in view of the death penalty hereby affirmed. Appeal dismissed.”

    King could only be spared from hanging, if the Lagos State Governor decides to commute the death sentence to imprisonment.

  • Things you may not know about Rev King

    Full Name: Chukwuemeka Ezeugo

    Aliases: Reverend King;His Holiness

    Designation: General Overseer, Christian Praying Assembly (CPA) Worldwide, Canal View  Street, Ajao Estate, Lagos.

    Education: Premier Primary School, Onitsha; read Psychology at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State

    Date first arraigned in court: September  26, 2006

    Trial judge: Justice  Joseph Oyewole of Lagos High Court

    Charges: Six- count charge of attempted murder and murder

    Verdict of High Court on January 11,2007: 20 years imprisonment for attempted murder and death by hanging for murder.

    Verdict of Court of Appeal on February 1,2013: High Court judgment affirmed by Justices Fatima Akinbami, Amina Augie and Ibrahim Saulawa.

    Verdict of Supreme Court on February 26,2016: Death sentence upheld.

     

    King’s defence

    *”I was arrested by heavily armed policemen who alleged that I poured fuel on some members of my church and set them ablaze. It was a very surprising thing to me and I was stunned when they came for me.”

    *”In any case, why must I pour fuel on my worshippers? That day in question, 20 members of my church wedded and after that, I proceeded to my house. We were all feeling very happy. In my residence that evening, I heard shouts of Daddy. The screams came from one of my daughters (his female followers), Kelechi. I was wearing shorts and I ran down from upstairs.

    *”I saw flames of fire on my daughter, Ann. When I came down, one man was helping to douse the fire on her, while some other people were there. I helped in drawing her to the tap, but the tap was not running. I was also praying while trying to save her. Fortunately, the fire went off.”

    *”We then took her to the nearest hospital where she started receiving treatment.”

    *”I am a preacher. I know that the spirit of witchcraft is against the Almighty God. If somebody is a liar, he is bewitching God. I don’t condone lie. Dr. King does not condone sin. I flog a lot. I have canes. If husband and wife mess up by having misunderstanding, I have to settle them.”

    *”But the person that is at fault must be flogged. If the person refuses to be flogged, I will send him out of the church.”

     

    I served Rev Emeka King while naked

    – Witness

    A prosecution witness in the case against King, Susan Chizobar Onuorah, told the High Court that she was always stark naked whenever she wanted to serve him.

    Led in evidence by the then Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions, Mrs Bola Okikiolu-Ighile, the witness said: “When I came to live with the accused (Rev. King), he told me that I would be his permanent maid and that I would agree not to marry.

    “He said anytime I wanted to serve him, I must be stark naked which I did. No pants, no bra, I would be completely nude before him and I did this not once, not twice, but for several years.

    “He also ordered me not to tell any member of my family where I was living. He gave me a ring which I always put on to indicate that I am his permanent maid and all this he made me to put into writing. I am a member of the Lord’s Army and we bully people, putting fear into them and molesting them.

    “He is a very violent person; he would beat us mercilessly, and as a result, we always have wounds on our bodies. He called himself god, the owner of the universe and could do anything. We know this is not so, but out of fear, we could not challenge him.

    “On the 22nd of July 2006, the day of the fire incident, a sister named Kelechi came to call me from the Boys’ Quarters of the accused’s house where we were staying. She said the accused wanted to see me.

    “When I got to him, he did not even allow me to kneel down as we usually did when talking to him before he started beating me with stick, rod and anything he could find. I started crying, shouting and begging him not to kill me.

    “It was then I noticed others who were there: Cosy, Chiejile, Jessica, Ann, Vivian and Kelechi. He accused me that I lied to him that Chiejile did not sleep with me, whereas Chiejile had confessed to him that he slept with me. But Chiejile never did. He only said that so that the accused would not kill him.

    “He said he would kill all of us. He then asked Kelechi to go and bring fuel and matches, but when she brought them, he told her that the petrol was not enough and that she should go and bring more which was brought in a very large plastic container.

    “He then marched us out of the room, saying he did not want to burn his rug and chairs. While we were outside his room, but within the church compound, Kelechi poured petrol on us on his orders and he struck the first match which did not catch fire.

    “When he struck the second match, we were all engulfed in fire, but I did not know how I managed to escape from there and I ran back to our apartment. When I noticed that Ann had been taken to the hospital, I ran out in my night gown and I never came back to the church.

    “I came out of the place by the grace of God. I am free now; I am no longer under the spell of the accused person.”

  • Lagos hails Supreme Court’s verdict on Rev King

    Lagos hails Supreme Court’s verdict on Rev King

    The Lagos State Government on Friday hailed the verdict of the Supreme Court which upheld the judgment of a Lagos High Court that sentenced the General Overseer of the Christian Praying Assembly, Chukwuemeka Ezeugo (popularly known as Rev. King) to death by hanging.

    Rev. King was sentenced to death by Justice Joseph Oyewole of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja, on January 11, 2007, for the murder of one of his church members, Ann Uzoh.

    He was first arraigned on September 26, 2006  on a six-count charge of attempted murder and murder.

    The apex court, in a lead judgment delivered by Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, dismissed the appeal filed by Rev. King for lacking in merit and held that the facts of the case were ”like what you see in a horror movie.”

    Reacting to the verdict, the state government, through the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem said the judgment was another confirmation of the seriousness of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s administration to be decisive in fighting crime in the state.

    A statement issued by the Deputy Director, Public Affairs Unit, in the state Ministry of Justice, Bola Akingbade, quoted the commissioner as saying: “This is just another confirmation that the government of his Excellency, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is going to be very strong on fighting crime. Wherever a crime is committed, no matter how long it takes, the government of Lagos State will ensure that the perpetrators of those crimes face justice eventually.

    “I salute the institution called the Supreme Court for this erudite judgment and I want to assure the public that we will continue and we will not relent in our fight to make Lagos a safer, secure and more prosperous state.”