NEMA evacuates 191 stranded Nigerians from India
A total of 191 stranded Nigerians in India evacuated back home by the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, have arrived Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja today, Friday 16th December 2022.
An Ethiopian Airline charted flight that conveyed the returnees touched down at the Abuja airport as they were received by a reception team led by NEMA and other relevant agencies. After being profiled and screened, the returnees were each given a token of $100 (N72,000) for transportation to their various homes.
Addressing the returnees, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq welcomed them on behalf of the federal government. The Minister who was represented by a Deputy Director in the Ministry, Dr Suleiman Abubakar admonished them to be law abiding. She said the token provided them by the federal government was meant to support their movement home.
2 dead, 23 rescued in Ebute Meta building collapse – NEMA
In his remarks, Director-General NEMA, Mustapha Habib Ahmed advised the returnees to learn from their experiences and be law abiding citizens.
The NEMA boss who was represented by the Deputy Director Search and Rescue, Ishaya Isa chonoko, said the federal government had approved the evacuation to ease the suffering of Nigerians stranded abroad, to bring them back home safely.
The returnees expressed their appreciation to the Federal Government for the special intervention in their safe evacuation back home.
Among officials that received the returnees were staff of airport agencies, military, Nigerian Police, Nigerian Immigration Service, National Commission for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), NAPTIP, Nigerian Diaspora Commission, NDLEA, Nigerian Correctional Service, Nigerian Customs service, Port Health Services, NCDC and others.
![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?")