![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 Bola Tinubu administration is set to increase electricity tarrif by 300 percent to reduce government spending since it can no longer afford the huge amount it pays to subsidise electricity yearly.
A report by Bloomberg on Tuesday disclosed that electricity companies in Nigeria will soon have the government’s say-so to hike tariffs from N68 per kilowatt-hour to N200 per kilowatt-hour for urban consumers in April.
Urban consumers occupy about 15 percent of the population and consume 40 percent of the nation’s energy, the report said.
The report was based on conversations with multiple government officials who were not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.
Presidential aide Bayo Onanuga, who said it would be premature to comment on the matter, stated that the official regulator, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, would communicate feedback and necessary developments to the public.
“The regulator will make any pronouncements based on its discussion with the distribution and generating companies. The presidency cannot say anything at this stage,” Onanuga told the media.
With only urban consumers affected, Tinubu will now only continue to subsidise electricity tariffs for people in rural areas.
In February, Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu said that the federal government could no longer shoulder the burden of subsidising energy for Nigerians, noting that the government’s power debt to generating companies had ballooned to more than 1.3 trillion naira.
Since Adelabu assumed office last year, he has been clamouring for the government to scrap the electricity subsidy to reduce the debt burden of the power ministry, which he said was not sustainable for the sector.
It is unclear exactly how the citizens will react to the planned hike, as the majority of them have yet to recover from the suffering triggered by fuel subsidy removal last year.
