Kabiru Turaki, the recently elected factional National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, has called on US President Donald Trump and the world community to assist in Nigeria’s deteriorating political situation.
He warned that the country’s democracy was “under threat” as an intensifying internal dispute within the PDP descended into turmoil in Abuja.
Speaking to journalists outside the party’s national secretariat in Wadata Plaza on Tuesday, Turaki called the country’s political situation terrible and dangerous, requiring immediate international attention and involvement.
Turaki further accused the faction loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, of organizing armed thugs to disrupt party operations and prevent his faction from entering the premises.
He said, “I want to call on President Trump. What is at stake is not just genocide against Christians; he should come and save democracy in Nigeria. Democracy is under threat. I am calling on all other developed nations, all advanced democracies, to come and save Nigeria.”
Turaki also declared that his faction’s leaders were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to defend the party’s mandate and Nigeria’s democracy.
“I have said it: we are willing to lay down our lives to protect our office, to protect democracy, and to protect our mandate,” he added.
His remarks came just minutes before rival factions clashed at the secretariat, where the Turaki-led National Working Committee and the Wike-backed group led by the factional National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, had scheduled concurrent National Executive Committee and Board of Trustees meetings for the same day.
Tear gas caused panic, with party members, personnel, and media coughing and fleeing in chaos.
Outside the secretariat, supporters from opposing camps continued to brawl, escalating the impasse around the embattled opposition party.
![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")
