The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has trained women from across the Niger Delta on how to use strategic litigation to fight exclusion, inequality and environmental injustice in their communities.
At a three-day workshop in Port Harcourt, supported by the Ford Foundation, women leaders, activists, traditional rulers, journalists and persons with disabilities shared stories of being sidelined in inheritance, decision-making and benefits from natural resources.
Mrs Naamon Grace, from Ogoni’s K-Dere community, recalled how women endured rape, torture and displacement during the environmental struggles of the 1990s, only to be forgotten in today’s clean-up process. “We fought, we suffered, but we were never recognised,” she said.
In Okwuisi, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA, Peace Mgbenwa lamented that women leaders are handpicked by men and often settle for token gifts instead of demanding rights. “We now understand our needs and how to achieve them,” she noted after the training.
For Martha Egbe, leader of the Voice of Eleme Women Association, pollution remains the biggest burden. “We can’t farm, we can’t fish. Women are the worst hit, yet the last remembered,” she said.
Responding, SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, pledged legal backing. “Our lawyers are taking records. We are going to support them,” he assured.
Experts at the workshop urged greater legal literacy and women-led platforms to close the justice gap. Journalist and activist Constance Meju described Niger Delta women as trapped by “money, political and legal illiteracy,” stressing the need for stronger sensitisation.
The training drew participants from Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Rivers States, leaving many women determined to push harder for recognition, inheritance rights and fair access to the benefits of the oil-rich region.
![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")
