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Rev King, in Ikoyi Prisons, wonders why people talk about him
Getting to meet with the embattled general overseer of Christian Praying Assembly, Reverend Emeka Ezeugo King, more popular as Rev. King, inside the confines of Ikoyi Prisons in Lagos where he is being remanded for alleged murder of one of his worshippers, Ann Azuh was really a herculean task.
Concerted efforts and ploys to arrange an exclusive chat with him failed as prison officials who took this reporter’s name to him said he refused to approve of the visit. An opportunity, however, offered itself when other reporters who had also been making futile efforts revealed that some members of his CPA church were paying him a visit last Sunday. The reporters, posing as church members too, were able to gain entrance and access to the troubled man of God.
What transpired between Rev. King who was clad in a maroon-coloured, long-sleeve shirt atop a pair of jeans trousers and a pair of sandals and members of his church including the reporters was as revealing as it was mind-blowing.
On sighting his visitors who were wearing mournful looks, he quickly started waxing biblical and at the same time philosophical, reminiscent of the sermon on the mountain: “I enjoin you all not to cry over my incarceration and trial,” he told them. “You should rather be prayerful and regard this as the re-enactment of the persecution of Jesus Christ. What happened to Jesus Christ about 2,000 years ago is what I am going through today. The difference is only that I have not been nailed to the cross.
“I am a victim of total blackmail and master conspiracy, owing to my uncompromising commitment to God. I’m assuring you all that though my detractors will attempt to tarnish my image, they cannot break my bond with God.”
Reverend Kings whom the faithful still addressed as ‘His Holiness’ continued in his vibrant peroration while gesticulating and mixing his speeches with Igbo language. “I regard the whole thing as blackmail and master conspiracy. If not, why do the media keep hearing from only one side and that is those who say evil things against me? They refused to hear from me.
“There is nothing wrong in the Police doing their job by making an arrest. I want to make it clear that anybody can be accused of a crime but as far as I am concerned, an accused remains innocent until he is found guilty by a competent court of law.
“In my own case, the universally acclaimed legal principle is being bastardized by the press and some members of the public who are misled by the falsehood being dished out by the master conspirators. Those asking about their motive must be ignorant. If an armed robber comes to your house, does he first tell you his motive? My sheep know me and I know them. To my sheep, I say, do not bother.
“Whoever in this world that hears any kind of evil about me and believes such is evil. That person is demon personified. Mind you, all these campaigns of calumny against me in the newspapers did not start today.
“I want to warn that everybody will face judgement according to his words. Now, if the whole thing is not conspiracy against me, how come a ring put on the finger of a reverend sister (referring to Kelechi, a worshipper in his church) as a mark of her vow to dedicate her life to God suddenly became a marriage ring? If not conspiracy, why did they leave the main issue and instead kept on dwelling on sex, my family disowning me and other blatant lies?
“One woman even came to say she sold sand to me. Where is that coming from? I am not a sand dealer. They can go on conspiring and blackmailing me but the truth is that as far as I am concerned, fornication must go, evil must go. How I worship my God does not concern them. So, no matter how much they try to hurt me, it is just for the scripture to be fulfilled.
“The difference is that they have not nailed me to the cross. Aside from that, what happened to Jesus is what is happening to me today. This is because all my actions are commanded by God and that is what is called holiness. Whenever you hear anybody say I did evil against the commandment of God, know that it is not true because I hate sinful lifestyles. That is why God gave me the name ‘His Holiness’.
My persecution will not cow me into compromising my tough stance against sins which had made me controversial. I will, however, warn that anybody who could not stop living a life of adultery and fornication against my church rules should not follow me.
“I cannot fold my arms as a shepherd and watch my sheep commit sins. If anybody agrees to follow me, he must obey me. It is not today that people began to accuse me of having sex. It is simply because they know I hate such sins. They say all these things but they cannot make me angry.
“Though I flog and send people out of the church, I have never committed or attempted to commit murder. I came to preach salvation, not to commit murder. I am saying this for the benefit of mankind and not to defend myself.
“Frankly speaking, I feel good. I am super happy here because this is a mark of promotion from the Almighty. The reason is that all the allegations and all the evil plans against His Holiness from number one to the last are false and malicious.
“People talk about my family disowning me. How can my family disown me when they are members of CPA till tomorrow? Even the name they wrote (Ezeugo) is not my name and nobody in the whole town answers that name. The age they wrote in the papers is not my real age. Where exactly I am, they do not know. Some say I am in Kirikiri, others say Ikoyi.
“If they charge me for murder, they will eventually charge me for father (mischievously referring to murder as ‘mother’). What I am charged for does not matter to me because if God lifts me up, nobody can bring me down. It is all false. The people in question are my own children and I take care of them. I pay their school fees. If I have been killing people, how come they were spared? The police have gone to my home to conduct a search and they found nothing.”
On the death of Ann Azuh whom he was alleged to have poured fuel on and set ablaze, Rev. King further said: “If Ann died, I did not see her because I was not there. They read the charge in the law court. If she died, nobody will be happy. But the most important thing is that if, indeed she died, where will her soul be? Do you want me to start crying? She’s my church member whom I took care of. Of course, I cannot be happy if she is dead. If you know how I feel when somebody close to you or somebody from your town dies, that is how I feel.
“All I know is that the two issues that have been drawing flak to me and my church include my being referred to as Jesus by my followers and my claim that on the day of reckoning, I will be the one sitting on the judgement throne. I will refer sceptics to Luke chapter 6 verses 22 to 26. Anybody who is praised to high heavens is heading to (sic) destruction but he who is reverred by men should rejoice for aside being blessed, he has bliss and treasures awaiting him.
“When Jesus was on earth and was to be crucified, they said He called Himself God. Who am I? (He asked his visitors and they all chorused: Jesus!!!). You have answered the question. Mind you, I will be the one to judge the world whether I live or die.
“Before you can have any of the promises that the Lord gave to believers, you must face me. So, I am not begging anybody to believe in me. Let us wait for the day of judgement of God when we shall know whom the Father has sent and who He has not sent.”
At this stage, while prison officials who were visibly stunned and transfixed by the preaching of Reverend King suddenly woke up to their responsibilities and started urging visitors to depart, a mild drama took place. One of the prison inmates who claims to be a new convert to the detained man of God and who was eavesdropping while he was addressing his visitors asked whether he would, like Jesus Christ, forgive those who had conspired against him? Reverend Kings quickly answered: “I may not say for now because there is still time. Let me ask you, after persecuting the followers of Jesus Christ, was St. Paul forgiven or not? (The inmate said he was forgiven after repentance). Yes, there may be forgiveness if…..”
This sentence could not be completed because Rev. King’s visitors were quickly led out.
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