Members of the Christian Praying Assembly (CPA) have unequivocally declared that the General Overseer (G.O) of the church, Reverend King, whose real name is Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, will be back soon, irrespective of the Supreme Court’s judgement concerning him.

Reverend King, it will be recalled, last week, had a death sentence passed on him affirmed by the apex court for the gruesome murder of one of his church members in 2006, an allegation that he, as well as many of his followers have continued to deny, vehemently.

On Sunday, during a visit to the headquarters of the church situated at Ajao area of Lagos, by Lagos Metro, a preacher led the congregation to pray, sing and dance mostly in honour of the controversial clergyman.

The preacher who was later identified as Pastor Ifeayin King (most of the high ranking pastors of the church are often referred to as “King”) attributed the plights of Reverend King to the activities of witches and wizards, who he said should not rejoice yet because the whole development was still at the preface stage.

“Our G.O. the most holiness, Reverend King is coming back. He said he would come back and we believe the words of his mouth. We believe his report that he is coming back. Everything happening now we know is the handiwork of witches and wizard, but this is just the preface stage, soon a new story will emerge,” the preacher, who preached in both English and Igbo, said.

Pastor Ifeayin, who like a few other males in the church, spotted some beard and a clean-shaven head, which was the signature appearance of the embattled clergyman, told members of the congregation that they should take delight in the fact that the whole debacle had further pushed the CPA brand and the personality of Reverend King to hitherto unreached places.

“Whether people realise it or not, everybody now knows his holiness, our G.O. Reverend King. The front pages of newspapers are flooded with his name. People are yearning to read about him on the social media. I can confirm to you that by all these, a lot of people have become endeared to him. Our Daddy G.O. shall live forever for us in Jesus name,” he said.

A distinct feature of the church is the strong stance against mobile phones and hostility towards journalists, which saw the ushers warning Lagos Metro correspondent who went under the guise of a worshipper to “please put off your phones, as we do not allow phones to even ring here.”

A young lady sitting close by had her phone promptly confiscated after it barely rang out while the Lagos Metro correspondent almost has his phone seized, when his phone which had been put on silent mode gave an indication of an incoming call. “If you don’t switch off your phone now, I will walk you out,” an usher threatened.

An individual sitting close by took the issue on himself as he promptly accused the correspondent of coming to the church with an ulterior motive.

“You are a journalist. Where did you come from? I know you are a journalist; there are many like you here. You always come here to look for news, while pretending to be one of us,” he shouted, despite the fact that the service was still on-going.

Members of the church, who refused to allow the impending death of their G.O. dampen their moral, also used the occasion to celebrate the birthday of Reverend King with different songs, prayers, dancing and merriment.