Appeal Court confirms Rev King’s death sentence
Accused of murdering Ann Uzoh, a female church member, Ezeugo was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging on January 11, 2007.
He was consequently transferred to Kaduna Prisons in North- West Nigeria to await execution. Ezeugo, the General-Overseer of the Christian Praying Assembly in Lagos however, approached the Court of Appeal, Lagos, appealing to it to quash the death sentence.
With the turn of events, he has the option of lodging a final appeal at the country’s apex court, the Supreme Court, in Abuja.
Ezeugo’s trial came at the height of reports about his alleged high handedness in running his church located in Ajao Estate, a short distance away from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.
The controversial cleric, who spots a trademark bare head and luxuriant beard, is accused of meting out corporal punishment to offending followers and allegedly ran a secret cell where he detained those who he felt deserved to be locked up.
His antics however backfi red when Ann Uzoh, a spinster, died as a result of a fi re allegedly lit by Ezeugo.
Several members of his church testified against “Reverend King” in the course of his trial. But many more members of Christian Praying Assembly (CPA) described Ezeugo’s travails as persecution, likening the death sentence passed on him to the crucifixion of the biblical Jesus Christ.
The only option left to Ezeugo, who hails from Oko in Anambra State, is to proceed on further appeal to the Supreme Court. Should he fail to approach the Supreme Court within 30 days or should the apex court affi rm his death sentence, he would have to face the hangman’s noose.
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