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By Reuben Abati
On Thursday,
January 11, Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, also known as Rev. King
uttered the ultimate blasphemy, when after
his sentencing to death by hanging and additional 100
years in jail, by Justice Olubunmi Oyewole of the Lagos
High
Court, he decanted: "I am not afraid to die. It is a
privilege and honor for me to die by hanging. I am
following in the
footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ. After all, he died
on the cross by hanging."
The Lord Jesus Christ
did not die by hanging; he was crucified. And in no way
do the facts of the case of Rev. King's trial
indicate that he is "following in the footsteps of
Christ". King who is now in the condemned criminals
section of the Kirikiri
Maximum Prison, his trade mark beard finally shaved, a
condemned man's prison uniform given to him, his
Christian
Praying Assembly in Isolo now deserted, is the victim of
his own delusions. He is an archetype of the
charlatanism that
passes for religious worship in many parts of the
country. Rev. King may have fallen, but his sentencing
to death by
hanging or whatever eventual fate awaits him after his
case is heard on appeal, does not mark the end of the
King
phenomenon.
The significance of the
case lies not in King's present fortunes, but in the
need for government to carry out a special audit
of religious places of worship, the need to investigate
modes of worship without necessarily interfering with
the freedom
of religion and association, and the need for the Church
of Christ in Nigeria to educate the general congregation
about the
abuses that have overtaken the church in form of the
rise of fake pastors, and the growth of a gullible
followership. The
seeds of religious violence and fundamentalism of the
most heinous variety are sown by the likes of King, in
both the
Christian and Islamic religions, who stand the doctrines
on their head and introduce unorthodox traditions
through which
they mislead the faithful.
King who exhibited all
the traces of a fanatic in the court of law will for
long be remembered for his strange deployment
of the word of God and his abuse of the pulpit. During
his trial for murder, he spoke of persecution; he even
slapped a
trial witness, he refused to obey court procedures, he
insisted on being addressed as "The Most Holiness Dr
Reverend
King". After his sentencing, he promised to meet his
persecutors at "the gate of judgment", and proceeded to
address a
press conference.
The presiding judge in
giving his ruling had noted that the facts of the case
had proven Rev King's guilt beyond reasonable
doubt. His contempt in the face of the court could only
further confirm the evidence that had been provided, for
indeed
Rev King threatened that he would burn the world if he
is directed to do so by God. He reportedly added that it
is
nobody's business if he chooses to flog his followers.
"If I beat people in my church, it is nobody's business.
The Bible
says spare the rod and spoil the child". Rev. King
failed to realise that he could only run his church
within the bounds of
the law. There are many more like him who need to be
unmasked and brought to trial.
In his case, his
followers were required to call him "Daddy" or "My
Lord". They worshipped him as if he were God on
earth. Young ladies were taken away from their families
and made to live with Rev. King as sex slaves. One of
them who
is now jubilating that justice has caught up with Rev
King, was required to serve him naked, and then warm his
bed. She
aborted three of his babies under instructions. Members
of the congregation were hypnotized. They left the
church only
when the Reverend said so. They were not allowed to go
to the toilet during church service, they were required
to urinate
or defecate on their seats. If they coughed during
church service, they were required to pay a fine of N25,
000 or more.
They knelt down before the Reverend. If they did
anything wrong, he flogged them with rods, hit them on
their heads with
sticks, or assigned a bedroom punishment in the case of
ladies. While his trial lasted, bearded followers of Rev
King
insisted that he was merely being persecuted and that he
will triumph in the end.
The man has been
sentenced to death, many of them are still insisting
that their master will live. For years, Rev. King and
his followers terrorised the residents of Ajao estate.
It is now obvious that the Christian Praying Assembly,
where he plied
his trade as Founder and General Overseer, was not
involved in Christian worship but sorcery and hypnotism.
This is one
of the biggest problems with the church of God in
Nigeria today. There are good pastors who genuinely
teach the doctrines,
but there are charlatans on the prowl who hide under
religion to do all kinds of things including armed
robbery, rape, a
l-Qaeda, and brazen misrepresentation of religion,
including its use for the violation of the rule of law.
The Lord Jesus Christ
preached forgiveness of sins; King preached punishment
and vengeance. Christ was the epitome of humility; King
was
arrogant in the extreme, Christ preached that we must
love our neighbours, King was a "Jesus of our time" whom
everyone
feared.
Examples of similar
derangement have been cited from other countries (Jim
Jones of Guyana, and David Koresh of Waco,
Texas) but there are many local examples as well. In the
past, there was a man in the Maryland area of Lagos who
called
himself the Jesus Christ of Oyingbo. Many believed him.
Wives abandoned their husbands, daughters left their
families,
professionals resigned from their places of work and
took up residence in a church where they pursued a life
of sin and
illusion. The bubble burst only after the man died. On
the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, there is another religious
leader who
continues to call himself "the Perfect Living Master".
There was another religious leader in Calabar who was
regarded by
his followers as God.
Each time a related
scandal is exposed, however, the people merely enjoy the
entertainment that is provided; they have
refused to learn the lessons that are highlighted. Why
are Nigerians so gullible? Why would anyone go to a
church and
accept the kind of dehumanization that has been
described?
We live in a country
where there are too many people who are looking for
miracles. Life is so difficult, you only need to
call yourself a prophet, a man of God, an anointed
servant of the Most High, and people will begin to
worship you. The
more miracles you promise, the bigger the followership.
In a country where there is so much unemployment, one of
the
easiest ways to earn a living is to become a Pastor or
an alfa, add some mysteries to your personal style, do
something
creative with the Bible and mode of worship; dress in a
peculiar manner, speak in tongues, promise miracles in
the lives
of your followers: job for the unemployed, help for
widows, husbands for spinsters, promotion for employees,
more
wealth for entrepreneurs.. and you are in good business.
Some churches even serve free food at the end of every
session
in order to attract worshippers. Rev King is a product
of this miracle-making form of religion. A university
graduate, he
chose to lead a Prayer Assembly. There are many young
men of his type still on the streets who are waiting to
step into
hisshoes.
Justice Oyewole was
right when he spoke, obiter, as follows: "I have
considered the entire circumstances of this case.
Religious fundamentalism of the basest type that gave
rise to the offences for which the accused was found
guilty has
never done any society any good. The variant
demonstrated by the accused is a throw-back to the dark
ages and an
assault to the gains attained by humanity in the areas
of respect for human dignity, freedom and liberty. The
Nigerian
society is already bogged down with myriads of problems
ranging from poverty to corruption which has rendered
many
of its vulnerable elements susceptible to the wares of
religious highway men such as the accused person here,
who offer
them stone for bread and scorpion when they demand
fish". Rev King offered something worse than stone and
scorpion.
On July 22, 2006, he
sprayed six members of his congregation with petrol and
set them on fire. He was jealous that one
of his sex slaves, Vivian, had been unfaithful to him,
and he had asked her to bring to him everyone who knew
about the
misdemeanor. He did not listen to their plea for
forgiveness. He set them on fire. One of them Ann Uzor
died. It is for this
act of murder that Rev King has now been sentenced to
death by hanging and 100 years imprisonment for the
other
five-count charge of attempted murder in line with
Sections 319 and 320 of the Criminal Code respectively.
Other leaders of
religious cults must learn an important lesson from this
case, namely that claims of their direct link with
the Almighty, do not grant them any immunity from the
laws of the land. Speaking in tongues, affecting a queer
style,
pretending to be holy, all these do not place them above
the law. The Christian Association of Nigeria and the
Pentecostal
Fellowship of Nigeria must embark on the important task
of educating the public about the antics of end-time
pastors.
They must set standards, and draw attention to warning
signs. There are churches for example where the members
are
encouraged to steal from their employers and donate to
the church! There are pastors who offer prayers of
intercession
for drug dealers and armed robbers!
It is not enough to say
that this is "end-time" or that these manifestations
have long been predicted; the Church of God
must put its house in order and check the spread of the
King phenomenon. The state must also become vigilant:
reports
of any form of criminality under the guise of religion
must be closely investigated and treated accordingly.
Neighbors must
be vigilant too, and help report any unusual practices
under the cover of religion, and above all, parents must
watch their
children closely. Two of Rev King's victims were
educated young ladies, Vivian Ezeocha (HND, Federal
Polytechnic,
Oko, Anambra state) and Jessica Nwere (B. Sc
Accountancy, University of Lagos).
Adeyemi-Bero And Lagos
State Govt.
The story appeared in
The Guardian newspaper of December 29. Chief J. O
Adeyemi-Bero, 80-plus has now been
honored by the Lagos State Government, with the main
auditorium at the Alausa Secretariat now to be known as
Adeyemi-Bero Auditorium.
Pa Bero, an active,
strong and mentally alert octogenarian is the number one
civil servant in the history of Lagos state.
When Lagos state was established in May1967, he was
seconded from the Federal Civil Service to work with
then
Lt.Col Mobolaji Johnson to set up the new state. They
had a marching grant of only ten thousand pounds. It was
the
responsibility of Adeyemi-Bero as Secretary to the
Military Administration to help set up the state civil
service.
He was a loyal and
diligent member of the Mobolaji Johnson administration
to which the credit must go eternally for
building Lagos state from the scratch, from nothing
actually and in spite of the cynicism of those who saw
the new state
as a threat to the Western region government at the
time. The recognition by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Lagos
state
must mean a lot to Pa Adeyemi-Bero who incidentally is
in court with the same state government over an
unresolved
matter.
In 1976, the Murtala
Muhammed administration had confiscated his property at
25 Cooper Road, Ikoyi which he
bought from Shell with a loan from Barclays Bank. The
Babangida administration later returned the property and
the
properties of 14 others (including Ogbemudia and Ojukwu),
and it was so gazetted, but the Olagunsoye Oyinlola
government in Lagos at the time, refused to return
Adeyemi-Bero's property.
In more than one
newspaper article, the old man has cried out against
this injustice. For him, it is a matter of honour
and integrity. Adeyemi-Bero belongs to a different
generation of civil servants. He was responsible for the
allocation
of plots of lands in Ikoyi and Victoria Island. But he
didn't grab some for himself as is now standard
practice. He
even took a loan to buy a property in the area. But even
that was taken from him.
This matter deserves a second look by the Tinubu administration. Otherwise Pa Adeyemi-Bero, also known as
"Mr Lagos state", could say of the auditorium in the words of Dr Samuel Johnson to Lord Chesterfield: "the notice that
you have been pleased to take of my labours, had it been early, had been kind. But it has been delayed until I am
indifferent, and cannot enjoy it; till I am solitary and cannot impart it; till I am known and do not want it. I hope it is no
very cynical asperity not to confess obligations where no benefit has been received..."
2003 - 2006 @ Guardian Newspapers Limited (All Rights Reserved).
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