The Vice President, Sen. Kashim Shettima, has decorated the new Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), describing the appointment of Mr. Adewale Adeniyi by President Bola Tinubu as a morale booster for officers in the service.
Olusola Abiola, the VP’s director of information, communicated this in a statement as Shettima held the brief ceremony at the Presidential Villa under the witnessship of Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the president.
According to the Vice President, “Congratulations for bringing professionalism back to the Nigerian Customs Service. Now, every officer can aspire to the pinnacle of his or her profession.
“I wish you well, on behalf of the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces. Congratulations once again,” the VP added.
Speaking to journalists shortly after the decoration ceremony, Mr. Adeniyi expressed gratitude to President Bola Tinubu for appointing a serving officer as the head of the agency, assuring him and Nigerians of a more effective and innovation-driven Customs Service.
He said, “In the last 8 years, the Nigeria Customs Service has gone through a period of transition. In some areas, we recorded progress—we made remarkable progress in E-Customs; we made a lot of breakthroughs in capacity building. But the Customs Service can still live up to its full potential when we bring in more innovation to drive operations. These are the kinds of things we are looking at in the years ahead.”
Continuing, Adeniyi said, “We are going to be professional in our approach; there are a number of key stakeholders that we are going to be working with; it is a very onerous task, but we are going to be working alongside other stakeholders and partners that we have identified.”
“We intend to come up with innovations that will carry all partners and stakeholders along.” We are going to leverage technology and innovation to break new ground in Customs operations.”
![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")