![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-300x200.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
The National Economic Council confirmed on Thursday that the Federal Government’s $3 billion emergency loan for crude oil secured in August would be used to stabilize the naira, whose value has continued to fluctuate in the Investors and exporters window and worsened in the parallel market, reaching N1000/$ earlier this month.
Speaking to State House correspondents following the 136th NEC meeting at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja, Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule stated, “So, we are very confident and we still believe very strongly that with the plan that will come out and with all these items that have been listed on the improvement of revenue, the $3bn loan shall be useful to us down the line.”
On August 16, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited announced that it had acquired an emergency $3 billion crude repayment loan from Afrexim Bank to relieve the naira strain.
They stated that the financing would allow them to pay taxes and royalties in advance.
It will also provide the Federal Government with the required dollar liquidity to support the naira while posing little risk.
The naira, on the other hand, has continued to fluctuate in the I&E window and deteriorated in the parallel market, reaching N1000/$ the week before last.
It recovered on Friday, September 22, 2023, after President Bola Tinubu nominated Olayemi Cardoso to be the next governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. In the black market, the naira rose N10 against the dollar, closing at N990/$1.
When asked when the intervention would begin and whether a supplementary budget would be required, Sule stated, “The $3 billion that was taken to stabilize the naira. As you may have noticed, we now have a new team at the CBN, and the new team is requesting some time to sort out the modalities.
“It is one thing to take the loan; it is another to plan the process of stabilization because it’s going to take a while.
“The CBN governor was just confirmed a few days ago, and he started rolling out his plans for what to do.”
Speaking on the supplementary budget, Sule noted that the “supplementary budget is a request that will come as a result of whatever is happening right now. I’m not sure there is a need for a supplementary budget immediately. So far, there have been no supplementary budget requests that were presented to NEC.”
