![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 "Is Anthony Odiong still a priest after life in prison sentence over rape?")
Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, has been accused of being bankrolled by the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to repeatedly attack Peter Obi.
According to a statement by Dr. Haruna Goroh, a social media influencer, he alleged that the way Omokri is “obsessed about discrediting Obi and legitimizing” Tinubu’s administration shows “what he is doing is now his full-time job.”
Goroh’s statement was in reaction to a statement by the former presidential aide who offered $10,000 to Peter Obi and his followers to “substantiate their now-viral claim that @waecnigeria deleted a post proving that Peter Obi took Anambra to Number One in education.”
Omokri, a firm critic of Obi, had said that “WAEC did not delete any posts. Their post is still on their X handle. What happened is that WAEC posted a link to a YouTube video from someone else. The video was not from them. Please fact-check me: WAEC does not have a YouTube video.
“The YouTube video itself was flagged for fraud by YouTube and pulled down. It has nothing to do with WAEC.”
Reacting to the former presidential aide’s statement, Goroh alleged that Omokri had already been given a job by Tinubu, which was not made public.
He alleged that Omokri’s obsession “about discrediting Obi” follows his desire to satisfy his paymasters.
“I am now convinced that Reno is being paid to go after Obi. I used to think that he was attacking Peter Obi to be noticed and given an appointment by Tinubu,” Goroh said.
“I think he was already given the appointment, but they did not make it public because of the nature of the work he’s expected to do.
“The way that Reno is obsessed with discrediting Obi and legitimizing Agbado’s regime, I am sure that what he is doing is now his full-time job.
“The way that Reno is devoting so much time to digging out things to discredit Obi, he must be doing it as his paid full-time job,” he added.
Describing Tinubu as a political “guru,” Goroh said, “Tinubu is a guru when it comes to paying money to get what he wants. Reno is offering a monetary reward to people who have proof or evidence that will clear Peter Obi of what he is accusing him of.
“Where is Reno getting the money from? The same Reno that once exposed all the lies that surround Tinubu has forgotten all that because of what he is getting from Tinubu.
“I am not Igbo, nor am I sponsored by Obi or the Labour Party to speak for them. If my assertions are wrong, then Reno should stop saying anything about Obi for a month, and I will be convinced that he is not sponsored by Agbado Master.”
Goroh further mentioned that “Omokri keeps attacking the Obidients as if they are the ones behind Nigeria’s problems. Tinubu stole the elections and is ruling with a mandate that was not given by the people.
“The Obidients were not mobilized by Obi. They are the young people of Nigeria who are tired of these political thieves who have wreaked havoc on their country.
“They only saw one person who possessed the qualities needed to bring about that desperately desired change, and that person was Obi. The obidient are not only from the Igbo of Southeast extraction but are from all over Nigeria.
“What Reno is doing is what I call a deliberate diversionary tactic of this regime—to take the attention of Nigerians away from the evil of Tinubu’s regime.
“Nigerians are not fools; they are seeing what is happening. You can’t oppress the people forever; one day, they will push back.”
![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-450x300.jpg "Is Anthony Odiong still a priest after life in prison sentence over rape?")
