Reverend King: His Testimony, His Lies, His Conviction.

(From Vanguard (Nigeria) - AAGM)

Byline: Kayode Matthew

He disowned his biological name which is Emeka Ezeugo in the court of law. He claimed God has commanded him not to remember his past including the names of the schools he attended, his educational qualifications, the names of his parents and his marital status. While he was being administered on oath before giving his evidence in the witness box he chose his own words as against the standard procedure. He determined which questions were convenient for him to answer in the witness box and whenever he was asked questions which he was not comfortable with, he would say 'according to the law of God (his own God), I cannot remember that.' He told the court his name is 'His Holiness the Most Honourable Reverend Dr. King,' the prophet of God, who hears from God and does whatever he is commanded to do even if he was commanded to set everyone in the courtroom ablaze.

That was exactly what he did on July 22, 2006 when he set ablaze six members of his church, the Christian Praying Assembly, for allegedly committing sexual immorality, which they denied, and in the process causing the death of one them, late Miss Ann Uzoh. He was then slammed with a six counts charge of attempted murder and murder and put on trial. The prosecution called 12 witnesses while the defence called 9 witnesses including the accused himself. On January 11 this year, the trial judge Justice Joseph Oyewole found him guilty on all the counts and sentenced him to death by hanging.

Last week, Law and Human Rights presented the evidence of one of the victims of Reverend King, Miss Vivian Ezeocha, the first prosecution witness which the other victims corroborated and relied upon by the trial judge. This was the evidence that nailed Reverend King. She gave a vivid account of how the accused General Overseer of their church summoned them to his presence, accused them of immorality and vowed to burn all them which he actually carried out.

Today we present Reverend King's own testimony, his lies and fabrications and how he crumbled with his evidence as the trial judge described him as a cruel, conceited and callous person.

Reverend King's testimony

"On Saturday 22nd of July 2006. I came to where I use to reside at No. 6B, Canal View, Ajao Estate, Lagos. And then I came from my office, just one fence between the residential place and the office, then the church quarters is behind the house and the church quarters is definitely attached to another address behind in as much as they may call it 6B or 4A but its attached to another address behind.

"So, I came down that day to where I use to reside from my office direct around 5 a.m. in the morning I came in. This simply means that I had been in the office from Friday 12 p.m. or 12:10 p.m. that is 10 minutes after twelve noon till Saturday morning 5 a.m.. So, I came in by …