The Supreme Court has okayed death by hanging for convicted
\nGeneral-Overseer of the Christian Praying Assembly, CPA, Chukwuemeka
\nEzeugo, a.k.a Rev. King.<\/p>\n
In a unanimous judgment Friday<\/span><\/span> afternoon, a seven-man panel of Justices Consequently, the court in its lead verdict that was delivered by Justice Justice Ngwuta who noted that \u201cthe \u00fdfacts of the case could have been \u201cThis appeal has no merit. The judgement of the court of appeal is hereby It will be recalled that Ezeugo was convicted and sentenced to death by During the trial, the prosecution had argued that the convict poured Consequently, Justice Oyewole convicted and sentenced Ezeugo to 20 years Ojo argued that his client did not commit the crime and was not at the The lawyer further contended had those \u201cvital exhibits\u201d been admitted Meanwhile, after due consideration of the case, a three-man panel of The Supreme Court has okayed death by hanging for convicted General-Overseer of the Christian Praying Assembly, CPA, Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, a.k.a Rev. King. In a unanimous judgment Friday afternoon, a seven-man…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n
\n\u00fdof the apex court led by Justice Walter Onnoghen, upheld the death
\nsentence that was earlier handed to Ezeugo by the Lagos State High Court.<\/p>\n
\nSylvester Ngwuta, dismissed the appeal the convicted clergy lodged before
\nit.<\/p>\n
\nlifted from horror film,\u201d resolved all the 12 issues Ezeugo raised in his
\nappeal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\naffirmed. The prison sentence that was earlier handed to the appellant is
\nno longer relevant in view of the death sentence passed on him,\u201d Justice
\nNgwuta held.<\/p>\n
\nhanging on January 11, 2007, for the alleged murder of his church member,
\nAnn Uzoh. He was arraigned on September 26, 2006 on a six-count charge of
\nattempted murder and murder. The charge against him was at the instance of
\nthe Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions.<\/p>\n
\npetrol on the diseased, Uzor and five others. Uzoh died on August 2, 2006,
\nexactly 11 days after the incident. In her judgment, trial Justice Joseph
\nOyewole who is now a Justice of the Court of Appeal at Calabar, said there
\nwas sufficient evidence linking the accused person to the commission of
\nthe crime.<\/p>\n
\nimprisonment for the attempted murder and death by hanging for the offence
\nof murder. Dissatisfied with the judgment, Ezeugo took the case before the
\nLagos Division of the Court of Appeal. The condemned clergy, in his notice
\nof appeal dated January 16, 2007, prayed the appellate court to set aside
\nthe judgment. Aside 16 grounds of appeal he raised through his lawyer, Mr.
\nOlalekan Ojo, he was subsequently granted leave to argue additional 16
\ngrounds based an amended notice of appeal he filed on June 15, 2008.<\/p>\n
\nscene of the incident. He insisted that the deceased, Uzoh, had in two
\nstatements she made after the incident and before her death, stated that
\nshe got burnt in a generator accident and that the cleric was not
\nresponsible for her injuries. Ojo said the Investigating Police Officer,
\nIPO, had tendered statements which stated that Ezeugo was not responsible
\nfor the burns that led to Uzoh\u2019s death. He alleged that the trial Judge
\nrefused to admit in evidence, the statements he said exonerated Ezeugo of
\nthe crime.<\/p>\n
\nrather than expunged by the trial judge, they would have operated to cast
\nserious doubt on the case of the prosecution. He maintained that Justice
\nOyewole\u2019s refusal to admit the exhibits in evidence \u201coccasioned a great
\nmiscarriage of justice\u201d against his client.<\/p>\n
\njustices of the appellate court, in a lead judgment that was delivered by
\nJustice Fatimo Akinbami, dismissed Ezeugo\u2019s appeal and upheld the high
\ncourt verdict. The other members of the appellate court panel that equally
\nconcurred with the lower court\u2019s verdict were Justices Amina Augie and
\nIbrahim Saulawa. Determined to save his life, Rev Ezeugo lodged an appeal
\nbefore the Supreme Court. His appeal was challenged by the Lagos state
\ngovernment which through its Attorney General, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem and
\nDirector of Public Prosecutions, Mrs. Idowu Alakija, urged the apex court
\nto dismiss it and uphold the concurrent verdicts of the two lower courts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"