Even as convicted cleric, Chukwuemeka Ezeugu aka Rev. King, battles to escape the hangman’s noose, his devotees move on with life, Adeola Balogun reports
At the gate of Ajao Estate, along Murtala Muhammed Airport Road in Lagos, all a first time visitor to the church of convicted cleric, Chukwuemeka Ezeugo aka Rev. King, needs to do is to tell any of the commercial bike operators aka okada assembled there to “take me to CPA.”
The name is an instant catch with the okada riders. No eyebrow is raised that you demand to be taken to the church of Rev. King, who was arraigned on September 26, 2006 on six counts of attempted murder and murder of a devotee, Ann Uzoh, and the attempted murder of five others.
He was said to have poured petrol on the six devotees for “acts of fornication,” and set them ablaze.
Uzoh died on August 2, 2006, 11 days after the incident, as a result of the injuries she sustained from the incident.
On February 1, 2013, the Court of Appeal in Lagos affirmed the death sentence on the cleric. When asked whether the church, which is located deep inside the estate is still operational, the okada rider who offered to convey our correspondent to the church was surprised.
“Well, in terms of crowd, maybe when we take CPA, the other church that attracts such number of devotees in Ajao Estate is CPM (Christian Pentecostal Mission). The church is there and it is growing bigger by the day,” he said.
Because the okada man did not know the mission of his passenger, he mistook him for someone going to the church for spiritual purposes.
“But why are you coming in the morning? The best time to go there is the evening. That is when many of the members assemble in the church, apart from Sunday. You may not see them there now, but maybe you can wait for them to come in the afternoon,” the okada man said.
It did not take too long before the bike pulled up in front of the church’s gate.
As you walk up to the church gate, you are confronted by a huge banner, with King’s picture prominently displayed.
The banner announces a vigil fixed for Thursday February 14, with the picture of the cleric in a cream suit with his characteristic beard and clean-shaven head.
The message on the banner invites the public to a ‘Victory Night Vigil’ (sic), where “HIV/AIDS is 100% curable,” and ends with an admonition that they should “come along with a bottle of olive oil.”
All these our correspondent took in within seconds before sauntering through the iron gates into the church auditorium.
Neatly arranged inside the expansive church were rows of white plastic chairs. On the walls were emblazoned Bible quotations spiced with those of Rev. King in bold colours. For about two to three minutes, after a quiet entry, our correspondent observed a devotee who was so absorbed in his task of arranging chairs that he was oblivious of the presence of the visitor.
When our correspondent volunteered a “hello,” the devotee jerked in shock. Quickly recovering his composure, he scrutinised our correspondent with a suspicious glare.
“Have you switched off your phones? Before you enter this place, you must switch off your phones just as I have done to mine. If you have not done that, please go back outside the gate to switch them off before you enter again. This is the house of God where there must be silence,” he blurted.
And when our correspondent offered to put off the phones without necessarily going out, the devotee, who looked every inch like the church founder with the characteristic goatee and clean shaven head, stood askance.
His reaction showed that he was not used to people questioning his authority inside the church and at this point, he demanded to know the mission of the visitor to the church at that hour of the day.
Dressed in a shirt and a pair of trousers, the devotee had a laminated image of Rev. King hanging on his tie.
“Who are you and why did you come here at this time?” he asked while eyeing our correspondent with suspicion.
Our correspondent told him he came in connection with the programme on their banner.
But he was not amused and by this time, he had come closer to where our correspondent stood, scrutinising him all over again.
“The programme is tomorrow night and I don’t understand why you are here today. Who are you?” he said, sounding impatient.
“Well, I just heard about the programme but I was not properly briefed about the time and date. Anyway, are journalists not invited to the programme?”
The response was meant to flatter the CPA devotee, but he was totally unsettled to learn that a journalist had walked into the church auditorium uninvited.
He shot back, “You are looking for what you want to write again, abi? Why are you people not tired of looking for what does not concern you? So you are one of those writing rubbish about a man of God, things you don’t know anything about?
“I want you to retrace your step because of the consequences of writing about our man of God. Ask those who wrote against him over the years, where are they today? I advise you to desist because by the time the consequences come, people would not know what you have done just to sell your paper.”
Even though he looked unhappy, he made efforts to mask his feelings and engaged our correspondent in a sermon on why all those ‘who have written and have not stopped writing about the man of God would soon know the result of their action.
“For you to write anything about our father, Rev. King, you must have been a member of CPA for at least 10 years. That is the minimum for you to be able to know the great man,” he stated.
When he was asked whether Rev King was not capable of freeing himself from death row in Katsina Prisons, he countered by asking our correspondent why Jesus did not do so when he too was persecuted more than 2000 years ago.
“About 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ was persecuted, but today Jesus Christ is the lord of the world. Where are his persecutors today?
“That is why I am warning you seriously to stop writing on what you know and what you don’t know about Rev. King. You know that he has not said anything and if he has not told you anything, what then do you want to write about him?” he thundered.
By this time, he had motioned to our correspondent to walk with him out of the auditorium towards the gate.
As they walked to the gate, he was asked whether Thursday’s vigil was CPA’s way of celebrating St. Valentine’s Day.
He snapped, “We don’t celebrate Valentine. We are not like any other church. The worst sins will be committed tomorrow in the name of Valentine. We are not part of that. This is a holy land, we worship the true God here through our father, Rev. King.
“We did not choose the date of the programme, it was the Holy Spirit that chose the date. Just come tomorrow and witness healing.”
He boasted that Rev. King would be part of the congregation during the vigil.
“Rev. King will be here physically and spiritually. Just come and see for yourself. All you people write about the man of God is rubbish, but I have warned you against the consequences of such action.
“Because of what you write, I don’t read papers again; just to sell your paper, you write what you don’t know about Rev. King. Repent, I tell you, repent before it is too late.”
When our correspondent said he doubted the church’s claim of a ‘complete cure for HIV/AIDS,’ the devotee, who refused to give his name, said he was not surprised.
“HIV/AIDS is the least of what we do here. To Rev. King, what is AIDS or HIV? But because you don’t want the truth, how will you believe? You are only interested in what to write against my father.”
Even though he took it as a compliment when he was told that he looked like Rev. King, he however threw it back to our correspondent.
“Don’t you look like your own father? I told you that Rev. King is my father, so why are you still asking for my name? I know that when you leave this place, you are going to write again but don’t say I did not warn you, stop writing against Rev. King.”
At that point, our correspondent thanked him and left the church.
While the lawyer to Rev. King, Olalekan Ojo, has given indication that he will challenge the affirmation of the death sentence, it appears that the church’s devotees have decided to move on with their lives as they wait to see how the legal battle will end.