Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, have re-arrested a former Assistant Director in the Federal Civil Service, John Yakubu Yusuf, who has been on the run since 2018 after the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, sentenced him to six years imprisonment and a fine of N22.9 billion, for conniving with five other suspects to steal N32.8 billion Police Pension Fund.
Based on his re-arrest, Justice Baba Yusuf of the FCT High Court on Monday, June 22, 2020, issued a remand order that will enable him serve his six years jail term in Kuje Correctional Service, Abuja.
Yusuf is one of the six federal civil servants facing prosecution for allegedly stealing N32.8 billion Police Pension Fund.
He was initially convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment with an option of fine of N750, 000 (Seven Hundred Thousand Naira only) by a Federal Capital Territory High Court presided over by Justice Abubakar Talba, in a plea-bargain arrangement.
The conviction, considered to be a slap on the wrist, sparked national and international outrage.
The EFCC, dissatisfied with the judgment of the trial court, approached the appellate court to set aside the judgment. Ruling on the substantive matter, the Justices of the Court of Appeal held unanimously that the three counts involving Yusuf (Counts 17, 18 and 19) clearly stated the amounts he converted for his personal use.
He pleaded guilty to the three counts and thereby admitted to the conversion of an aggregate sum of about N24 billion to his personal use.
The court stressed that the sentence of the trial court, did not serve as deterrence to both the convict and others.
Consequently, the justices ruled that the sentence is “hereby quashed and deserves to be reviewed as follows: on Counts 17, the Respondent is hereby sentenced to two years imprisonment with an addition of fine of N20 billion naira; on Counts 18, the Respondent is hereby sentenced to two years imprisonment with an addition of fine of N1.4 billion naira; on counts 19, the Respondent is hereby sentenced to two years imprisonment with an addition of fine of 1.5 billion naira. The sentence of imprisonment is to run consecutively and the fine is to be cumulative.”
![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")
