- Reverend King, just convicted to hang for murder, got his just desserts.
But the Nigerian state must stop condoning such fatal impunity
The February 26 Supreme Court verdict confirming the death sentence by hanging on Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, aka Reverend King, General Overseer of the Christian Praying Assembly (CPA), a Lagos-based religious commune, is a just close to a horrible saga. King was first convicted for the crime by Justice Joseph Oyewole, then of the Lagos State High Court, on 11 January 2007.
King would hang for murdering Ann Uzor, one of his church members, by setting fire on Ann and five others, after accusing them of “fornication”. He accused a male church member of sleeping with another female, his “dedicated maid”, at which no other male must look. Yet, the “man of God” had wives and children! In anger, the pastor reportedly drenched the sorry six with petrol and set them ablaze. Ann died. But the others survived the inferno.
Such was the extent of Ezeugo’s abuse that one of the victims, turned principal state witness at his trial, said the pastor gave her a ring to press his sole ownership of her. The maid, an unmarried young woman, served the pastor stark naked; and was an object of ceaseless sexual and physical abuse, since the CPA “King” was reported to be a very violent man.
Not only did Ezeugo brutalise his CPA church members, he also terrorised people in his church neighbourhood; to the extent of even raiding the surrounding houses and conscripting the defenceless to his brand of worship. He was also reported to have flogged mercilessly his flock, for the most routine of infractions, no matter their age, marital or even societal status.
Such was King’s notoriety that many of his former neighbours are urging Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to sign with despatch the pastor’s death warrant, and quickly carry out his execution. Even Justice Sylvester Nguta of the Supreme Court, who read the lead judgment in the final sentence, was so grimly impressed by King’s sheer savagery that he remarked it was like a scene from a horror movie. But that horror movie was real!
Let justice take its toll. But beyond crime and punishment, why does Nigeria tolerate continued cases of gross citizen abuses in religious communes? Even with his sentence, many of the deluded votaries still believe he would walk free, with a good number of the congregants changing their surname to King!
Before Reverend King was Olufunmilayo Immanuel Odumosu, self-named Jesu Oyingbo (Jesus of Oyingbo), who for many years on end, in Lagos, brutalised his brainwashed religious captives, and subjected them to blatant sexual perversion; in many cases, incest: Immanuel was not averse to having children by mother and daughter!
As the abuses mounted, neighbours in his Maryland, Ikeja commune, played dumb. The government itself lived in denial, until his death in 1988; and the bitter row over his estate. Those rows led to bitter legal cases, which revealed the rot in Jesu Oyingbo’s commune. That eventually led to the Lagos government’s seizure of the estate.
Inasmuch as the right to faith is guaranteed under Nigerian law, the government should strive to protect citizens from charlatans like Rev. King, the late Jesu Oyingbo, and other hundreds, if not thousands, on the religious landscape, whose atrocities are yet hidden. For the government to succeed, however, neighbours of these communes should blow the whistle the moment they notice anything untoward. The police too should do their duty, should they get such reports.
That Reverend King would hang for his crime should serve as a grave lesson to other religious charlatans. But as prevention is better than cure, the Nigerian government and people must develop a zero tolerance of such abuses.
