![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")
Dr. David Oyedepo, the Presiding Bishop of the Living Faith Church Worldwide (LFC), has reiterated that he will not join politics for even $1 billion.
Speaking at the impartation ceremony of the church’s annual convocation, Shiloh 2025, the bishop exhorted the congregation to concentrate on their calling so they can dominate their world and join God’s army in the end times.
He said, “In 2015, I warned the church that trouble was coming. Didn’t trouble come?
“Partisan politics is off my calling. If you give me $1 billion to join politics, I won’t, because it’s off my course.
“The world is groaning in darkness, but as embedded in Romans 8:19, the world is waiting for the earnest manifestations of the children of God.
“The army of God is about to emerge to proffer solutions to national crises in the order of Joseph and Daniel. It is the day of what eyes have not seen or ears heard.”
Recently, Oyedepo decried Nigeria’s escalating wave of killings and insecurity, calling for a seven-day national prayer for divine intervention.
Speaking during the 4th Pre-Shiloh Encounter Service on November 23, 2025, Oyedepo voiced serious worry about ongoing attacks on worshippers and communities.
He referred to the escalating violence as “unacceptable” and “a direct assault on innocent lives.”
Speaking to the congregation, he said, “The Church of Christ in Nigeria is indestructible. The gates of hell cannot prevail against it. Nigeria will never become an Islamic state. Never, never, never. The battle is raging. The Islamic jihadists are running. But we belong to a higher realm of authority.
The cleric condemned the attackers and those he accused of supporting the violence and cursed them.
“Five people were shot dead in a church last week. Thirty-five abductees can’t tell where they are. And they are demanding a hundred million from a village setting. Every perpetrator of these killings and their sponsors comes under a curse today.”
He criticized the growth in kidnappings, which he described as “big-time business,” with criminals demanding exorbitant ransoms from impoverished communities.
Oyedepo invited church members and Christians everywhere to join in seven days of intense prayer beginning at midnight, calling it a spiritual response to the growing insecurity.
“When this church prays, God hears. All who are baptized in the Holy Ghost will join me in praying extensively in the spirit. By so doing, we are sending angels on a run. There will be catastrophes.
“There will be catastrophes. There shall be catastrophes. In the camp of the wicked, there shall be catastrophes.
He also told congregants to anoint their homes and workplaces as “no-go areas” and to accept spiritual responsibility for the safety of their families and communities.
“Everyone of you, anoint your houses, anoint your business places, and sprinkle the blood as a no-go area for every day. Today, human trade has become a big-time business. It’s worse than the scourge of slavery.
“You pick someone and say, ‘You should bring 700 million. My God, who are you? Everyone behind it, in the name of the Lord Jesus, within the next seven days, they are smelling.
“They are stinking. It’s done. Let’s come away to our spiritual responsibility. And break the arm of the devil from tormenting the lives of the innocent.
Oyedepo pledged that attacks on church members would not go unpunished, launching a spiritual operation at midnight.
“I’m telling every living winner, no matter how much anointing you have for sleep, that anointing is broken. Amen. Amen. Amen. As the Lord lives, who sent me as one of the watchmen over this nation. This shall not continue.
“At 12 midnight tonight, the operation begins. Satan is in trouble. Its agents are arrayed in the name of Jesus. Any member of this church touched equals fire and brimstone in the camp of the enemy. I’m saying so by the Holy Ghost. Go and try it.”
![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")
