![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 "Is Anthony Odiong still a priest after life in prison sentence over rape?")
Across major markets, prices of goods are moving away from the lower denomination of the Naira currency as inflation bites harder.
Not too long ago, a sachet of pure water cost N5, while N20 gained popularity as the denomination used to “settle” police officers at checkpoints, the Daily Post reported.
However, in the past couple of years, these notes have struggled to find items they could be attached to.
A market survey showed that more than half of Nigeria’s legal tenders cannot make purchases.
Despite this, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, recognises the following denominations: 50 kobo, N1, and N2, which are coins; and N5, N10, N20, and N50, which are printed on polymer materials.
A sachet of pure water now sells for N30. Retailed sugar no longer commands a price of N10, while candies such as Tom Toms now retail at two pieces for N50. Goods now round up to 50 or 100, further compounding these notes’ woes and rendering these currencies irrelevant.
In the past six months, the naira has depreciated considerably. At one point, it was about N1,900 to a single dollar until the intervention by the CBN, with the naira now trading at about N1050 to a dollar.
The implication of it is that the N1000, which is Nigeria’s highest denomination, is less than a single dollar.
According to the current exchange rate, anyone with $1000 is a millionaire in naira, and anyone with $1 has more than N1,000.
Despite the recent surge in the value of the naira, prices of commodities have not shown any significant signs of climbing down.
Experts believe that Nigeria’s inflation is a product of many factors, with FX being one of the numerous factors.
But despite this, the Nigerian government is still printing some of the lower-denomination currencies at a huge cost.
According to reports, in 2016, CBN had to temporarily halt the printing of N5, 10, N20, and N50 due to the cost of production.
It costs N1000 to print each lower denomination because Nigeria Security Printing and Minting plc (NSPM) is unable to print on polymer, report revealed.
Now experts are calling on the CBN to discontinue the printing of the lower denominations and review the currencies in line with reality.
Abiodun Ayangbemi, an economist, said that the CBN must discontinue the printing of the lower denomination because the majority of those currencies have failed the basic principles of money—means of exchange and store of value.
“The monetary authorities cannot continue to print those denominations when there is basically nothing to use them for,” he said.
Lekan Olaleye, a monetary policy expert, asked the federal government to take a copy of the re-denomination policy adopted by Ghana some years ago.
He argued that the CBN should remove two zeros from the existing notes.
It would be recalled that Ghana had, in 2007, re-denominated the cedis by striking out four zeros from their currency and producing the new Ghana cedis.
A former CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido, announced in 2012 a plan to introduce N5,000 notes. In the same vein, there was also a plan to coin the lower bank notes of N5, N10, and N20.
However, the policy was met with a strong outcry from the public, which condemned the plan. Thus, the government shelved the plan.
Years after the botched plan, prices of goods and services have spiked beyond the 2012 level.
![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 "Is Anthony Odiong still a priest after life in prison sentence over rape?")
