![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 Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, announced on Sunday that its agents apprehended a 42-year-old Indian woman, Ms Neetu Neetu, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, MAKIA, Kano, with 72 packages of heroin manufactured and sealed in wafer wrap and packaged as chocolates.
Spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi, stated, “The Class A drug consignment weighing a total of 11 kilograms was recovered from Neetu’s luggage after a thorough search.
He said this “followed processed credible intelligence during an inward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR1431 from Bangkok, Thailand, via Vietnam and Doha at the arrival hall of the Kano airport on Friday, March 14th, 2025.
“The arrest of Neetu signifies a growing attempt by drug trafficking organisations to hire white ladies and foreign nationals to move illicit drugs through the Nigerian borders.
Babafemi stated that hiring foreigners by cartels to smuggle illicit drugs is a bid that vigilant NDLEA operatives have consistently foiled with the help of modern technological tools and proactive intelligence, as laid out by NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd).
On Thursday, March 20th, NDLEA officers detained Michael Ogundele, 45, with a 50-litre steel petrol cylinder near Gadar Tamburawa on the Zaria-Kano route.
Based on trustworthy evidence, welding tools were later utilised to cut the massive cylinder, revealing 50,000 tramadol 225 mg pills hidden inside.
Sunday Ogar, 40, was apprehended in the Gunduwawa neighbourhood of Kano on Wednesday, March 19th, with a 27 kg skunk, a strain of cannabis.
On Tuesday, March 18th, a female suspect, Khadijah Abdullahi, 40, was detained in the Lungun Bulala Yalwa district of the state with 424 bottles of codeine-based syrup.
In Lagos, Olumuyiwa Kolawole and Samod Adisa were apprehended with 67.5 kg of skunk in Mushin, while 100.8 kg of the same psychoactive material was discovered from the store of two fleeing suspects in Anifowoshe.
Isah Idris was detained in Apapa on Tuesday, March 18th, with 4.5 kg of skunk, 600 grams of tramadol 225 mg, and 30 litres of codeine syrup.
Another suspect, Yahaya Mohamed, was caught the same day by the operatives of the NDLEA in the state’s Ikotun district with various amounts of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine.
NDLEA Commands and formations across the country have increased their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy sensitisation engagements in schools, markets, motor parts, workplaces, and worship centres over the last week.
These include WADA sensitisation lectures for students and staff at Chrisland School in Ikeja, Lagos; Hakimi Secondary School in Mokwa, Niger State; Marist Comprehensive College in Nteje, Anambra State; Ikole City College in Ikole Ekiti, Ekiti State; Government Day Secondary School in Sunane, Sokoto State; and Government Day Secondary School in Jada, Adamawa State, among others.
Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), Chairman/Chief Executive of the Agency, congratulated the officers and men of the MAKIA, Lagos, and Kano Commands on the arrests and seizures.
He expressed pleasure with the balance of medication supply and demand reduction efforts of all organisations across the country, while also urging them not to give up.
![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")
