![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?")
A prospective female member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) was killed in a fatal road accident that happened in Ebonyi State on Wednesday, January 22, 2024.
She was one of 12 prospective corps members transported in a 14-seater bus to the NYSC orientation camp in Afikpo town, in the state’s Afikpo Local Government region, for their three-week orientation course, according to a source in the region.
They were thought to be prospective corps members from the 2024 Batch C Stream II batch, who arrived at the camp on the same day.
The Enugu North Mass Transit bus in which they were travelling was claimed to have collided with a parked truck beside the road.
The deceased died from injuries, while other passengers were injured to varying degrees.
They were rescued by residents and security agencies and transported to David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences for treatment.
The source said, “Corps members had an accident while going to the NYSC camp. The accident happened in the Amenu community in Okposi. A female corps member died.
“The bus is a 14-seater bus with 12 of them being corps members. Others sustained injuries.”
A hospital source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the subject, confirmed that the victims were taken to the hospital.
“Yes, I saw them in the evening. They were brought by security officials. They are responding to treatment,” the source said.
Igwe Henry, the Ebonyi State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, verified the accident but said he had no information on casualties because the victims were rescued before his men arrived on the scene.
He said, “At the time our men from the Amasiri Unit Command got the information and got to the scene, the victims had been rescued. They didn’t directly carry out the rescue and therefore could not ascertain specifics of what happened.
“However, the crash occurred on January 22, at about 1400 hours. The route was Amasiri-Okiigwe, which they call Amenu village in Okposi. Two vehicles were involved; one was a Toyota commercial bus, grey in colour, and the other was a commercial Mercedes-Benz tipper (truck).
“So, from preliminary findings, it may have been caused by excessive speed on the part of the commercial vehicle, that is, the bus. But the details as to the number of injured and so on have not been ascertained, because, like I said, the victims were actually rescued by bystanders and then taken to David Umahi Hospital in Uburu.
“And then the items recovered at the scene, I understand, are in the custody of one Chief Amos of the Amenu Village in the same Oposi. At the King David’s Hospital, where my men went, the ones they saw were actually in stable condition.”
Mrs. Foluke Oladeinde, the State NYSC Coordinator, also confirmed the accident.
“I’m not in the right frame of mind to talk now. I’m in the hospital now. Yes, the accident occurred but I can’t talk right now,” she said.
![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?")
