![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")
Femi Falana, the human rights lawyer, said any official probe by security agencies into Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s attendance at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) meeting in New York could bring unnecessary embarrassment to Nigeria.
Falana’s warning comes amid allegations by Senate President Godswill Akpabio that the senator’s actions humiliated the government and people of Nigeria after Akpoti-Uduaghan reported her suspension to the international body.
Akpoti-Uduaghan had recently accused Akpabio of sexually harassing her.
The allegation came in the wake of her seating arrangement altercation with Akpabio at the red chamber.
She was subsequently suspended from the senate for “gross misconduct” over the debacle.
Akpoti-Uduaghan spoke at the IPU meeting on March 11 about the suspension, telling the gathering that the action was designed to silence her over the sexual harassment allegations.
In a report on Sunday, the Department of State Services (DSS) and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) have launched a probe into how the Kogi senator attended the IPU meeting in New York without an official nomination.
However, in a statement issued on Sunday, Falana warned that the investigation by security forces risks exposing the country to “needless embarrassment and undeserved ridicule”.
“Finally, it is public knowledge that the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio had accused Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of embarrassing the government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by reporting her suspension by the senate to the Inter-Parliamentary Union,” the statement reads.
“Contrary to the jaundiced views of the senate leader, it is the official probe of the circumstances of her trip by security forces that will expose Nigeria to needless embarrassment and undeserved ridicule
“Therefore, the SSS and NIA may study the report of the investigation of our illegal travelling by the Sani Abacha military junta before embarking on the futile attempt to probe senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for having the temerity to externalise the “internal affair of the senate.
“In fact, the probe will particularly embarrass some top officials of the Bola Tinubu administration who were once accused of travelling out of Nigeria to embarrass the defunct military junta.”
![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")
