For
organising prayer sessions for devotees and causing undue tension at Kaduna
Prisons, condemned founder of Christian Praying Assembly, Rev. Chukwuemeka
Ezeugo, popularly known as Rev. King, has been transferred to Kastina
Prison.
Although prison
authorities in Kaduna, Northcentral Nigeria, have not officially revealed
his whereabouts, prison sources informed P.M.NEWS that he was moved to Katsina Prison
because a large number of his church members including notable
politicians, always visit him in Kaduna for prayers, which became a source
of concern to the prison authorities.
King, who was sentenced to death by hanging
for the murder of a female member of his church, has appealed
against the conviction and is awaiting judgement. But while he
remains in prison, his devotees and some influential members of his
church have been working hard to ensure that his death sentence was reversed.
One of the sources, who did not want his
name mentioned, said: “The man is just too influential among his
adherents. We see different people, both high and low class, visit him
for prayers.”
According to the source, when the prison authorities
became uncomfortable with how his devotees visit him for prayers, causing
tension in the prison, they decided to move him far north to an unknown prison
where nobody can see him.
Efforts to get official information on his
whereabouts at the time of filing this story were futile as all the
senior personnel declined to talk on any matter regarding him, saying his case
is still pending in court.
Rev. King was sentenced to death by
hanging in 2007 by Justice Olubunmi Oyewole of the Ikeja High Court on a
5-count charge of murder.
The bearded General Overseer of Christian
Praying Assembly (CPA) at Canal View Street, Ajao Estate was convicted
for setting fire on seven members of his church whom he accused of fornication.
One of them, Ann King, died as a result of
injuries sustained in the fire.
During the trial, witnesses, who were
mostly his church members, narrated how Reverend King turned them
to sex toys. The principal witness in the matter, Kelechi King, in her
gory account told the court how she had aborted four pregnancies for the
self-acclaimed ‘god’.
She also revealed how Reverend King made
her denounce her family and how she served him as his maid, attending to
him naked.
On the incident that led to the death
of Ann, almost all the prosecution witnesses corroborated the fact
that Rev. King actually set them on fire by pouring fuel on them.
They also told the court that on the said
date, Rev. King gathered them together in his house following allegations
that they were committing fornication in his house, an allegation they all denied.
Another prosecution witness, Olisa
Chiejina, told the court then how the accused operated a “Lord Army”, an
outfit he said Rev. King uses to intimidate and harass members of his church.
After his conviction, Reverend King was
taken to the Kirikiri Prisons where he was put on death row.
His lawyers, however, immediately filed an
appeal to forestall his execution. The appeal is still pending. While
awaiting his appeal, he was accused of having sexual intercourse with female
guests even in prison. The allegation subsequently led to his transfer to
Kuje Prisons in Abuja before he was moved to Kaduna Prisons again.
No comments:
Post a Comment