Justice A.T Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, on Friday, 17 January, 2020 sentenced one Tarila Ebizimor to seven years imprisonment for obtaining money under false pretence to the tune of N4.000.000.00 (Four Million Naira).
The convict, a supervisor in the Security Department of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC was prosecuted by the Port Harcourt Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a four-count charge.
Ebizimor’s journey to prison began sometime in August, 2013 when he paraded himself as personal assistant of the managing director of the NDDC and obtained the sum of N4 million from the petitioner on the pretext that he will help facilitate the award of road construction contract to him.
One of the charges against him reads: “That you Tarila Ebizimor on the 13th day of August, 2013 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State within the jurisdiction of this honorable court did fraudulently obtain the sum of N2,000,000 (Two Million Naira), which said sum was paid into your Fidelity Bank account No. 5330259983, by a means of transfer from God’s Grace Haulage Limited on the pretext that you were to facilitate the award of road construction contract from Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), a pretext you know to be false and thereby committed an offence, contrary to Section 1(i)(a) of Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act”.
![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 "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
