The Ndigbo Cultural Society of Nigeria (NCSN) through its leader, Chief Udo Udeogaranya, has called on the Federal Government to have mercy on the life of Reverend Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, the General Overseer of Christian Praying Assembly.
The appeal to the Federal Government was made after the Supreme court recently threw out Reverend King’s appeal to the 2007 death sentence passed on him by a Lagos High Court presided over by Justice Joseph Oyewole.
Chief Ojo pleaded with the President, Muhammadu Buhari to “commute the sentence and grant him pardon as Nigeria stands to gain nothing by shedding blood.”
He continued; “This plea is premised on the ground that many Nigerians still hold Rev. Ezeugo as their spiritual leader even in various prisons and that the initial trial in Lagos as purportedly put forward by his lawyer Mr. Olalekan Ojo and published by national dailies was a miscarriage of justice in which the lawyer made certain points that demanded a second thought.
“Ojo argued that his client did not commit the crime and was not at
the scene of the incident. He insisted that the deceased, Ann Uzoh, had in two statements she made after the incident and before her death, stated that she got burnt in a generator accident and that the cleric was not responsible for her injuries.
“Ojo said the Investigating Police Officer, IPO, had tendered statements which stated that Ezeugo was not responsible for the burns that led to Uzoh’s death.
“He alleged that the trial Judge refused to admit in evidence, the statements he said exonerated Ezeugo of the crime. The lawyer further contended that “had those ‘vital exhibits’ been admitted rather than expunged by the trial judge, they would have operated to cast serious doubt on the case of the prosecution.
“He maintained that Justice Oyewole’s refusal to admit the exhibits in evidence ‘occasioned a great miscarriage of justice’ against his client.”