Nigeria’s army says a militant oil leader who had once organized the kidnapping of four British missionaries and death of one of them has been killed.
Military Joint Task Force spokesman Major Ibrahim Abdullahi said Friday that Peregbakumo Oyawerikumo, who was known as “Karowei” was killed in a gun battle.
He said the gun battle occurred after his gang members ambushed the military unit that was transporting him after arrest.
He says Karowei was arrested Thursday in his hideout in southern Nigeria’s Delta state.
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Abdullahi said Karowei is responsible for several abductions, robberies, the destruction of oil facilities, killings of military personnel and the death of British aid worker Ian Squire.
Niger Delta oil militants say they are fighting for the betterment of the oil-rich region, but many are also engaged in criminal activity.
Squire was a British optician kidnapped in Nigeria and was murdered after playing ‘Amazing Grace’ on guitar to cheer up his fellow captives.
Squire, 57, was among four Christian missionaries seized by a gang during a raid in the early hours of October 13 in the country’s southern Delta state.
Details of the medical charity worker’s death were initially withheld, but two of the other hostages held alongside Squire have now spoken of their horrifying ordeal.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Shirley and David Donovan explained that Squire was shot to death the day after the four Britons were captured, and just after singing a hymn.
Dr Donovan told the paper how the group’s spirits were lifted when the kidnappers returned a guitar and Mr Squire played ‘Amazing Grace’.
He told the paper: ‘It was the perfect song, and at that point things began to look not quite as bad.
‘But then, after Ian finished playing, he stood up, and a salvo of gunshots killed him instantly.
![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")
