According to Chronicle NG, President Muhammadu Buhari will leave Abuja on Thursday for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to attend the 36th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly (AU).
The theme of the AU Summit is “Accelerating the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).”
The President will attend three High-Level Meetings on peace and security, climate change, and the political situation in a number of West African countries.
The first is the Peace and Security Council (PSC) meeting of Heads of State and Government on the situation in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (AUPSC High-Level AU), which will be chaired by South Africa’s President in his capacity as Council Chair for the month of February.
The second event is a meeting of the Committee of the Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), which is currently chaired by the Niger Republic’s President.
President Buhari will also attend an extraordinary summit of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government on the sidelines of the AU’s annual meetings.
The Nigerian leader will deliver remarks at these events as well as present his National Statement at the opening session of the Summit, which brings together leaders from the AU member countries as well as a number of non-AU countries and international institutions accredited to the AU in Addis Ababa.
President Buhari will be accompanied on the trip by some Ministers and other top government officials.
He will return to Abuja on Monday, February 20.
![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")
