He called himself His Holiness. He poured petrol on his own church members and set them on fire.
His name is Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, born November 22 1960 in Uga, Anambra State. He founded the Christian Praying Assembly, a Pentecostal church headquartered in Ikeja, Lagos. To his thousands of followers he was known as Reverend King, or simply His Holiness. He preached, he led, he commanded total obedience.
On July 22 2006, Reverend King accused six members of his own congregation of fornication and adultery. He gathered them together at his residence. According to witnesses, he had them beaten with hard objects. Then he made them kneel down. Then he ordered petrol poured over their bodies.
Then he set them on fire.
One of the victims, a young woman named Ann Uzoh, suffered third degree burns over much of her body. She was rushed to hospital, where doctors fought to save her life for eleven days. She did not survive. The other five victims, also doused and set ablaze, suffered severe injuries but lived.
He was arraigned in September 2006 on six counts of attempted murder and murder. He pleaded not guilty to every single charge.
At trial, ten witnesses came forward to testify against him. His defence tried to discredit them by pointing to small inconsistencies in their statements, but it was not enough. On January 11 2007, Justice Joseph Oyewole of the Lagos State High Court found him guilty and sentenced him to death by hanging.
He appealed. In 2013 the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction. He appealed again, all the way to Nigeria's Supreme Court. On February 26 2016 the apex court dismissed his final appeal and affirmed the death sentence. The presiding judge, the late Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, described the facts of the case as something that could have been lifted from a horror film.
And even on death row, the disturbing reports did not stop.
While awaiting his appeal, Reverend King was accused of having sexual relations with female visitors and prisoners, allegations serious enough that prison authorities transferred him between facilities multiple times, from Kirikiri to Kuje in Abuja, then to Kaduna, then to Katsina, partly because of the volume of followers, including notable politicians, who kept visiting him to pray. One woman later said she had been repeatedly involved with him during these visits, became pregnant multiple times as a result, and had to terminate the pregnancies. In his own defence, Reverend King reportedly described what he was doing to these women as a method of teaching obedience.
Through all of it, something extraordinary happened. His church did not abandon him.
Members of the Christian Praying Assembly continued to fill the pews every Sunday. They took out paid newspaper advertorials celebrating his birthday, year after year, while he sat on death row. They read prison letters from him aloud during services, urging the congregation to continue in the faith he had taught them. When rumours spread that his execution might finally be carried out, church leaders stood at the pulpit and warned that Nigeria would boil if anyone touched their Holiness.
A man was convicted by three separate courts, including the highest court in the country, of burning his own church members alive, and was separately accused of sexually exploiting women even from behind prison walls. And thousands of people still called him a man of God.
He remains on death row in Nigeria today. Nigeria has an unofficial moratorium on carrying out executions, so even with his sentence fully affirmed, Reverend King has not been hanged.
Now here is what I want you to think about.
Six people knelt down in front of a man they trusted with their souls, accused of a private sin, and he answered that accusation with fire. One of them never went home again. The institution built around him did not collapse. It defended him. It celebrated him. And even behind bars, his authority over the women in his orbit reportedly never stopped.
I love how petty Ferran Torres is man
Traitor Cucurella gave him chances to score and my man intentionally missed it
He won’t score for a Madrid player to have an assist
Thank you maestro
Breaking News: “We Love President Tinubu, Because you want to be President, you hid our children, allow President Tinubu to work" - Pro Tinubu group stages counter protests in Abuja, faults Gov Makinde, & claims he kidnapped kids over presidential ambition
I have met a lot of people that voted Peter Obi the last time and will be voting PBAT next year.
I have also met a lot of people that voted Peter Obi last time but will sit out this election because Peter Obi hasn’t been as inspiring as he was in 2023 and they do not consider the alternatives as better.
I haven’t met a single PBAT supporter that is now supporting Peter Obi or any other candidate( this is my reality)
I believe this administration hasn’t lived up to certain hype but I cannot deny that it’s been reform minded. Helping correct structural issues that have plagued this country far too long.
For example, the recent passage of the state policing bill is by no means a mean feat. That this administration makes it look easy or don’t blow their trumpet so loudly does not diminish the huge significance of the bill and the tireless work that they put into it.
The implementation of the Nigeria Payments System Vision 2028 ( championed by CBN) is another policy that has gone under the radar(I believe we should all read about the policy) . This is one policy that will revolutionize our financial system for good. One that will birth several financial innovation and products. There is no eradication of poverty without financial inclusion and it appears CBN is on an articulated agenda towards a sustainable path.
For some of us, there are enough reasons to stick around this current administration. The alternatives aren’t as inspiring and simply do not have what it takes to out perform this current administration.
“Nigerian Youths Are Hypocrites. These School Children And Teachers Were Kidnapped Since Last Month, And I Didn’t See Much Protest. This So-Called RATEL Protest In Abuja Is Just Eye Service To Feed Their Ex-‘Pørnst@r’ Leader VeryDarkMan’s Ego. They Went And Blocked The Road. Why Didn’t They Protest The Week Those Students And Teachers Were Kidn@pped? It’s Sad That Nigerian Youths Are Allowing Someone Like VeryDarkMan, Who Lacks Integrity, To Use Them To Achieve His Own Hidden Agenda And Personal Interest👀.” ~ KayHikersClub
“Tinubu is a drug lord.”
“Tinubu is stealing Lagos money.”
“Tinubu did not attend Chicago State University.”
These are some of the allegations many of you have repeatedly pushed for years in an attempt to discredit and defame Tinubu, yet no lawsuit was filed against you.
Now Kenneth calls Obi a thief, and suddenly everyone is defending Obi’s right to sue for defamation.
If Tinubu were to dot the Is and cross the Ts, many of you will be in court or jail.
Every other year on #June12, we celebrate Democracy Day to commemorate the historic 1993 presidential election. Recognized as the freest and fairest election in the country's history, it was won by Chief MKO Abiola but the results annulled by the military government of General Ibrahim Babangida, leading to political unrest. Today we celebrate this date while the ochestrator of that injustice still moves around freely and is worshipped. There was a country called Nigeria 🇳🇬
Nigeria has been profiting from the US-Iran War but your Tinubu still allowed fuel (N1,370) and gas (N1,800) rise at an all time high.
Btwn March and April alone we gained extra N5.13trn to N6.46trn. (read that again)
The APC Tinubu is incompetent.
#June12 Protest 🪧
APC Must Go