Reverend King: to die by hanging

Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja

Rev. Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, a.k.a Reverend King will be hanged for murder, the  Supreme Court affirmed today, ending a ten year legal war to upturn the verdict of a Lagos High court.

King, General Overseer of the Christian Praying Assembly in Lagos, had challenged the judgment of the Lagos High Court and the Appeal court, which affirmed his  sentencing to death by hanging over the brutal killing of a member of the church, Ann Uzoh.

Delivering the judgment, Justice Sylvester Nguta, held that the convict’s appeal lacked merit.

“The ‎facts of the case could have been lifted from horror film and the court cannot but resolve all the 12 issues raised in this appeal against Ezeugo.

“This appeal has no merit. The judgment of the Court of Appeal is hereby affirmed.

“The prison sentence that was earlier handed based on the other five-count charge is no longer relevant in view of the death sentence passed on him.

“The appellant, in his defence, claimed that the victims sustained the various injuries from an exploded generator within the church’s premises but failed to prove this defence,” Nguta said.

Ezeugo was arraigned on Sept. 26, 2006, on a six-count charge of attempted murder and murder.

The charge against him was at the instance of the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions over the alleged death of Uzo and wilful injuries brought on five others.

The appellant was on Jan. 11, 2007, convicted and sentenced to death by hanging for the alleged offences.

The prosecution had argued during the trial, that the convict poured petrol on the deceased.

He pleaded not guilty to the allegation but was sentenced to death by the then Justice Joseph Oyewole of Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, on January 11, 2007 for the murder of Ann Uzoh.

Justice Oyewole is now a judge of Appeal Court sitting in the Calabar division.

The Lagos State Government had said that the convict poured petrol on the deceased and five other persons and that Uzoh died on August 2, 2006; 11 days after the act was perpetrated on her.

Dissatisfied, Ezeugo challenged the verdict before the Court of Appeal in Lagos, but the appeal was thrown out.