![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")
Nyesom Wike, the former Governor of Rivers State, disclosed on Sunday that he was poisoned at the secretariat of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Wike stated this during a special Thanksgiving service organized by his family at the St. Peters Deanery, Rumuepirikom, in the Obio-Akpor area of the state.
The former governor stated that in 2018, he was poisoned at the PDP secretariat, which necessitated him flying to Beirut at midnight, where doctors informed him that his liver and kidneys were damaged.
According to him, after the doctors attended to him, they informed him that the organs were still functional.
Noting how he altered his itinerary in the course of his second term campaign as a result of his poisoning, Wike stated that he was discharged and asked to go home after a week.
As a result, the former governor said he became suspicious of everybody, which made him avoid entering the home of any party leader during his campaign.
Narrating his ordeal, Wike said: “God was in charge, everybody who knew how we came to power in 2015, knew it was turbulent.
“But God saw us through. When you are in office, many people think things are going well with you. Nobody wants to find out the problems you are facing as a human.
“In December 2018, it was the day my former Chief of Staff was going to have Thanksgiving. I was to attend that Thanksgiving. From that Sunday on, I never came down from my room. It was bad.
“But those who attended the January 1 state banquet of 2019 will know that I never spoke that day. I just sat down there and told the deputy governor to speak on my behalf. I thought it was over.
“I didn’t know I had been poisoned at our party’s secretariat, the doctors, after some treatments, returned and told me my organs had started working again”.
The former Governor was however thankful to God that he accomplished landmark projects in the state during his reign as Governor.
