Chukwuemeka Ezeugo a.k.a. Rev. King is set to be executed alongside other inmates on death row in a Lagos State Prison.
The state’s attorney general and commissioner for justice, Adeniji
Kazeem made this known at a news conference on Tuesday, April 18th.
Adeniji described the development as an instruction from the state’s Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode.
He said that the state had begun reviewing the matter after prison
officials complained of the highhandedness of some death row inmates who
felt that they had certain rights which excluded them from being
executed.
The Attorney-General assured that, unlike previous administrations,
Governor Ambode would sign the necessary documents to execute those on
death row.
Speaking in a PM News report, Kazeem said, “Very soon, you will see
the action of this government on that issues, we are reviewing the case
on Rev. King and others on death row.
He added, “Lots of people are on death row, Rev. King is not the only
one on death row, it is on the instruction of Ambode that I visited the
prisons recently and I discuss the issue with the prison officials and
they expressed their concerns.
“We are moving in that direction of signing. The prison officials
said we need to look at that seriously. Those on death row are beginning
to think they have some rights. We are going to move in that direction,
you will hear from me, but I will not tell you the exact date.”
The Supreme Court had on February 27, 2016 affirmed the death sentence passed on King by the Appeal Court.
The condemned cleric was arraigned before the Lagos High Court in
Ikeja on September 26, 2006, on six counts of murder of a member of his
church, Ann Uzoh, and attempted murder of five other members.
He was said to have poured petrol on the deceased and the five other
victims and set them on fire for allegedly committing fornication.
Uzoh died on August 2, 2006, 11 days after the incident, as a result of the injuries which she sustained from the burns.
She was said to have been 65 per cent burnt in the fire incident. The
trial judge, Justice Olubunmi Oyewole (now a Justice of the Court of
Appeal), had in his judgement delivered on January 11, 2007, convicted
Ezeugo and sentenced him to 20 years imprisonment on each of the five
counts of attempted murder and death sentence for murder.
– Punch.