Samuel Ogundipe, the editor of Peoples Gazette, is on the run after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Department of State Services (DSS) launched an investigation into his attempt to blackmail chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, into paying him $300,000.
It was gathered that five months ago, Ogundipe had contacted Onyema to say his paper was working on a stinker on him. He, however, offered to drop the story if paid $300,000.
According to sources close to the investigation, Onyema tried to convince Ogundipe that the allegations being packaged against him by Peoples Gazette were false and only calculated to tarnish his reputation.
When the editor refused to back down, according to those familiar with the matter, the Air Peace chairman alerted the EFCC and the Department of State Services (DSS) on the plot to blackmail and extort from him by Ogundipe.
The EFCC and the DSS then set up a joint sting operation on the matter, our sources said. They asked Onyema to play along while the two agencies continued to monitor and record the communications between the Peoples Gazette Editor and the Air Peace chairman.
While playing along, Mr Onyema offered to pay Ogundipe $150,000 in three installments. After some back and forth, the journalist agreed.
Those familiar with the matter said the Air Peace chairman then requested Ogundipe to provide an account number to which the money could be paid but the journalist insisted that he would only accept the payment in cash.
Onyema continued to play along in line with the script given to him by the law enforcement agencies involved in the operation. He invited Ogundipe to his office in Lagos to collect the first installment of $50,000.
The journalist, however, said he was away in Dubai, UAE, at the time but would send a representative to collect the money on his behalf.
On the agreed day, a representative, said to be a female staff of Peoples Gazette, showed up at Onyema’s office to receive the bribe.
Unknown to her, armed operatives of EFCC and DSS, had planted recording devices in Onyema’s office while also taking positions around the facility.
Law enforcement insiders said immediately Ogundipe’s front received the money from Onyema, the operatives emerged from their hiding positions and swooped on her.
She was immediately arrested and driven to the Lagos office of the EFCC where she was interrogated and detained for one week.
The suspect, law enforcement sources said, told detectives that she did not know that the money Ogundipe sent her to collect was a proceed of blackmail.
The EFCC held on to the suspect for days and invited Ogundipe to show up for questioning. The journalist has since gone underground and has so far refused to return to Nigeria from Dubai.
Meanwhile, a further screening of the suspect’s telephone revealed information that further implicated the Peoples Gazette editor, our sources said.
Ogundipe was a reporter with Premium Times until mid 2020 when left after the medium accused him of unethical conduct.
![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")
