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Group pleads with TInubu to allow judiciary free hand in Yahaya Bello’s trial
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A group under the aegis of Movement for the Emancipation of Kogi State, (MEKSTA), has pleaded with President Bola Tinubu to give the Nigerian judiciary a free hand in the trial of former Governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello.
This was contained in a statement jointly signed by critical stakeholders across nine constituencies in Kogi: Hon Obafemi Medaiyese (Yagba Federal Constituency constituency),
, Comrade Joseph Mebatonije (Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu Federal Constituency), Alhaji Yusuf Kpareke (Lokoja/Kotonkarfe Federal Constituency), Mallam Jimoh Ozovehe (Adavi/Okehi Federal Constituency), Dr Nurudeen Adaviriku (Okene/Ogori-Magongo), Alhaji Isiaka Momoh (Ajaokuta Federal Constituency), Chief Ojonimi Adegbe (Idah/Igalamela/Ofu Federal Constituency), Pastor Mark Onucheyo (Dekina/Bassa Federal Constituency), Bishop Husseini Saidu (Ankpa/Omala/Olamaboro Federal Constituency).
The group extolled the Judiciary of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for its forthrightness, fearlessness and good conscience in the criminal proceedings relating to Mr Yahaya Bello, the immediate past Governor of Kogi State.
“We note that between the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Maitama, Abuja, and the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, everything lawful and just is being done to ensure justice for the good people of Kogi State in the N110 Billion fraud case against Bello.
“We take special note of the concurrence yesterday, of the Appeal Court in Lagos, with the seizure of properties valued at N80 Billion, procured with the commonwealth of the hapless people of Kogi State, as ordered by the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, in February 2023.
“This is just as the Federal High Court in Abuja, has scheduled further hearing in the N110 Billion heist, until October and November 2025, respectively. As against spirited efforts to tar-brush the nation’s judiciary, we actually do have in place a justice system capable of being dispassionate and objective.
“Paranoid that the trials could ultimately culminate in the justiceable conviction of Yahaya Bello, a fervent media campaign is being prosecuted to thwart the ongoing processes.
” The campaign is calculated to underscore the indispensability of Yahaya Bello, in the reelection of President Bola Tinubu, come 2027.
” Bello is being portrayed as the “Mr Fix It” of Kogi politics who holds the key to the success of the President in the 2027 poll. The intention is to instigate presidential interference in Bello’s multi-legged trials, for payback in 2027.
“There have also been reports and insinuations, that Bello is working with contacts close to the President to prevail on him for the termination and indefinite adjournment of the relevant cases, for political expediency.
“While recognising that President Tinubu is a man of strong convictions, we hasten to candidly admonish him, to allow the law to take its unimpeded course.
“This is in the aggregate interest of fairness to the people of Kogi State, justice and the integrity of the presidential system of government. *In the 26 year trajectory of the Fourth Republic, no Governor has been arraigned for defrauding the state of sums of money anywhere close to Bello.
“The offences for which former Governors Diepreye Alamieyeseigha; James Ibori, Joshua Dariye, Jolly Nyame, of Bayelsa, Delta, Plateau and Taraba states, who were prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned, pale into insignificance pitched against Bello’s N110 Billion haul.
“To refresh Mr President’s mind, *MEKSTA* recalls that the depth of pauperisation inflicted on Kogi State during Yahaya Bello’s eight-year overlordship, is only comparable to the experience of the Biblical children of Israel in the hands of the Pharaohs of Egypt.
” Bello and his handpicked successor, Ahmed Ododo, preside over local government funds in the state, without a care about the well-being of people at the third tier of government.
“There are reports that Bello has been on a monthly subvention of N2Billion from the Ododo system, which is being negotiated for upward review.
“The N1.2 Billion state-of-the-art SUV recently procured by Bello and flaunted in the face of the powerless people of Kogi State, is one of the proceeds of this continuous incestuous relationship.
‘Mr President, *MEKSTA* notes with grievous pain that Kogi State has suffered tremendously under the vice grip of Yahaya Bello and his vile and vicious structure who rule the streets without a whimper.
” With the hindsight of the respect for the generality of your constituents as Governor of Lagos State, and your respect for the public service, you will be downcast to imagine the humiliating conditions of Kogi State in its totality.
“Facilities as basic as official vehicles are denied Permanent Secretaries at the apex of the civil service, same way Judges and Magistrates hitchhike in public transportation including tricycles.
” This is the template of holistic dehumanisation operationalised by the Yahaya Bello DNA. The State House of Assembly has neither articulated nor passed any bills of its own, except Executive Bills handed down from Government House. This is the Kogi State situation in summary.
“Under your watch, Mr President, *MEKSTA* desires that Kogi State be free from the stranglehold of Yahaya Bello’s notorious rule-of-the-gun *tata tatata* politics, effectively emplaced in 2019, to cower and disenfranchise the people.
“Kogi State must move forward after *34 years* of moving “one step forward, two steps backward,” accentuated under Yahaya Bello’s overlordship. Mr President, the people of Kogi State will vote for you on account of your visible endeavours in the state, not because of brutes who kill, maim and destroy.
“The people of Kogi East are thankful that you looked in the direction of the family of the father of modern day Kogi politics, the late Prince Abubakar Audu, to appoint his son, Shuaibu Abubakar-Audu, as Minister of Steel.
“The people of Kogi Central appreciate the fact that you are not giving up on the Ajaokuta Steel Project, even as you have resolved that it must work and reinvent the economy of Kogi State and Nigeria in your time.
“The people of Kogi West appreciate the efforts of your administration in changing the decrepit narrative of road infrastructure.
*MEKSTA* desires that Mr President maintains his neutrality in the Yahaya Bello trial and allows the law to take its due course. We congratulate you on your good works and assure you your success is better assured without the stained and blemished hands of Yahaya Bello.
1. Hon Obafemi Medaiyese (Yagba Federal Constituency constituency)
2. Comrade Joseph Mebatonije (Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu Federal Constituency)
3. Alhaji Yusuf Kpareke (Lokoja/Kotonkarfe Federal Constituency)
4. Mallam Jimoh Ozovehe (Adavi/Okehi Federal Constituency)
5. Dr Nurudeen Adaviriku (Okene/Ogori-Magongo)
6. Alhaji Isiaka Momoh (Ajaokuta Federal Constituency)
7. Chief Ojonimi Adegbe (Idah/Igalamela/Ofu Federal Constituency)
8. Pastor Mark Onucheyo (Dekina/Bassa Federal Constituency)
9. Bishop Husseini Saidu (Ankpa/Omala/Olamaboro Federal Constituency)
A Texas jury has convicted former Roman Catholic priest Anthony Odiong of sexually assaulting women to whom he provided spiritual direction, concluding a closely watched case involving allegations that he abused his position as a clergyman to pursue sexual relationships with vulnerable parishioners.
The jury, comprising eight women and four men, found Odiong, 57, guilty of one count of first-degree sexual assault and two counts of second-degree sexual assault involving two women who testified during the trial in Waco.
Odiong, who pleaded not guilty, now faces a possible life sentence on the first-degree charge. Sentencing proceedings are scheduled to begin Monday before the same jury. The second-degree convictions each carry potential prison terms ranging from two to 20 years, The Guardian reports.
Jurors deliberated for about two hours before returning their verdict.
The case initially included allegations involving a third woman, but prosecutors Ryan Calvert and Liz Buice dropped that portion of the case after the complainant, described as being in an “extremely emotionally fragile” state, did not appear in court to testify. Prosecutors said they chose not to compel her appearance, citing her “extremely tenuous” emotional condition.
According to courtroom accounts, Odiong showed little visible reaction as Judge Thomas West read the verdict. He reportedly looked straight ahead during the proceedings before lowering his head as deputies escorted him from the courtroom.
The prosecution stemmed from allegations first brought to public attention in February 2024 by a group of women who accused Odiong of sexual coercion, unwanted touching and abusive financial control while serving as a Catholic priest in Texas and later in Louisiana.
One of the complainants, identified by the pseudonym Mary Doe, later presented a copy of a media report detailing the allegations to Waco police and accused Odiong of assaulting her over three years beginning in 2008.
Investigators subsequently identified a second complainant, known as Jane Doe, who also alleged abuse during the same period while Odiong served in the Waco area. Authorities said additional reports from other women helped establish probable cause for his arrest and prosecution despite the age of the allegations.
During the trial, Mary Doe testified that Odiong initiated a long-term sexual relationship with her while acting as her spiritual adviser as she navigated a difficult divorce and cared for seven children. She and one of her sons told jurors that the child once discovered them having sexual intercourse in her bedroom following a family gathering.
Jane Doe testified that she sought spiritual guidance from Odiong while trapped in an abusive marriage. She alleged that he pressured her to permit sexual acts with her husband that she found painful and then required her to discuss the encounters with him. Prosecutors argued that such conduct constituted sexual assault under Texas law even though Odiong was not directly involved in the sexual activity.
Both women said they met Odiong while he served at St Peter Catholic Center in Waco, a church frequented by students and employees of Baylor University. Their former husbands were Baylor employees, placing them within Odiong’s pastoral reach.
Jurors also heard evidence that DNA testing established Odiong had fathered a child in 2023 with a woman identified as Presley Jones, whom he had counselled spiritually while serving as pastor of St Anthony of Padua Church in Luling, Louisiana.
Although Odiong was not charged in connection with Jones because Louisiana lacks a law similar to Texas’ clergy sexual assault statute, prosecutors argued that the child demonstrated a pattern of sexual relationships with women he met through his ministerial work.
Expert witnesses told the court that clergy members bear responsibility for maintaining professional and spiritual boundaries with those under their care. Jurors also heard testimony regarding the Catholic Church’s requirement that priests remain celibate.
The defence called only one witness, a former parishioner, who testified about Odiong’s character and recalled attending a 2011 gathering at Mary Doe’s home. Under cross-examination, however, the witness acknowledged that Odiong’s conduct fell short of expectations for a religious leader.
Odiong, a naturalised United States citizen, was ordained a Catholic priest in 1993 in his native Nigeria. He was transferred to the Austin Diocese region, which includes Waco, in 2006 under then-Bishop Gregory Aymond.
After studying in Rome, Odiong moved to Luling in 2015, by which time Aymond had become Archbishop of New Orleans.
Church officials in Austin later said they suspended Odiong from ministry in 2019 over allegations involving multiple women. The suspension was not publicly announced at the time, though officials said New Orleans church leaders were informed. Archbishop Aymond did not publicly disclose a similar suspension in New Orleans until late 2023.
British-Nigerian rapper, Joseph Adenuga, popularly known as Skepta, has expressed deep concern over the worsening injustice in his Nigeria.
Speaking in a video broadcast, the ‘Bad Energy Stay Far Away’ crooner appealed to celebrities and the international community to assist Nigerians in drawing the global attention to the injustices in Nigeria.
He explained that Nigerians are resilient but have been suffering injustice for long.
“There is so much injustice in Nigeria. And whenever I can whether it is at my shows, verbally or images, whatever I can do, we are going to speak up for injustice at all time.
“Nigerians need help. We need people to speak up for us as well. We need to protect Nigerians. There is so much injustice in Nigeria.
“This is my message to the people; please, I know that we [Nigerians] are resilient and we make everything look good, but we need help, too. Please, help us,” he appealed.
A former Director of Defence Information, Major General Rabe Abubakar, and his wife have been kidnapped by suspected armed bandits in Katsina State, north-west Nigeria.
The incident reportedly happened on Saturday along the Matazu axis of Katsina while the retired senior officer was travelling with his wife to Katsina. Armed attackers intercepted their vehicle and took them away.
A security source told Sahara Reporters that the driver of the vehicle was also attacked but managed to escape despite suffering a gunshot injury during the incident.
According to reports, the vehicle used by the retired general, a red Peugeot 504, was later found and has been taken to the Matazu Divisional Police Headquarters.
An informal security message circulating among military contacts, allegedly shared by retired Brigadier General Sagir Musa, confirmed that the officer and his wife were abducted and urged authorities to act quickly.
As of the time of this report, neither the Katsina State Police Command nor the military had released an official statement on the incident.
Nigerian Catholic priest convicted of sexual assault in US
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‘So much injustice going on in Nigeria’ – British rapper Skepta
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