A married father of two has been exposed in Kenya for allegedly posing as a Catholic priest and conducting religious activities in several parishes in Turkana County.

The man, identified as Jones Bogonko Onchonga, reportedly gained access to the Catholic Diocese of Lodwar by allegedly presenting forged church documents to support his claim of being an ordained priest.

According to Kenyan publication Tuko, Onchonga reportedly celebrated Mass and took part in other religious activities at various Catholic worship centres, including St Augustine Cathedral in Kalokol, St Thomas Chapel and St Mary’s Lodaraja.

His alleged impersonation came to light after photographs surfaced showing him celebrating Mass alongside the Bishop of Lodwar, Rt. Rev. John Mbinda, C.S.Sp.

The discovery reportedly prompted concern among members of the Catholic community, leading the Diocese of Lodwar to clarify his status.

In a statement signed by Bishop Mbinda, the Diocese distanced itself from Onchonga and stated that he has no priestly authority or official position within the Catholic Church.

The Diocese also cautioned parishioners and members of the public against allowing him to perform priestly or other religious duties.

Onchonga has been charged with identity theft under Article 382 of Kenya’s Penal Code, an offence that carries a possible prison term of up to three years upon conviction.

He initially pleaded guilty to the impersonation charge when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Evanson Ngigi on August 14.

However, he later changed his plea to not guilty when he appeared before Magistrate Michael Lokitam on August 17.

According to the charge sheet, Onchonga allegedly posed as a duly ordained Catholic priest between July 31 and August 12 in Turkana Central Sub-County.

He is accused of falsely presenting himself to Bishop Mbinda and officials of the Catholic Diocese of Lodwar as a priest authorised to hold church meetings a and administer the sacraments.

He remains in custody after failing to meet the bail terms set by the court. The conditions include a KSh100,000 ($773.10) bond with a surety or KSh50,000 ($386.25) cash bail.

The United States Department of Homeland Security has added 10 Nigerians to its “Worst of the Worst” register, a database highlighting immigrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement over alleged criminal offences.

The latest names were published on the official DHS website and include individuals linked to cases involving fraud, identity theft, drug offences, assault, conspiracy and offences involving children.

The 10 Nigerians listed in the latest update are:

Temitope Bashua — Wire fraud, identity theft and fraud — Allenwood, Pennsylvania
Ojehoro Lewis — Cruelty towards a child — Conroe, Texas
Osemudiamen Kingsley Oziegbe — Wire fraud — Louisville, Kentucky
Daniel Oworen — Dangerous drugs — Conroe, Texas
Raymond H. Ekevwo — Wire fraud — Oxford, Wisconsin
Franklin Dikeocha — Sex offence against a child – fondling — Dallas, Texas
Johnson Ogunlana — Fraud and identity theft — White Deer, Pennsylvania
Chukwuemeka Okorocha — Wire fraud, dangerous drugs, possession of a weapon and aggravated assault involving a non-family gun — Allenwood, Pennsylvania
Tunde Korede — Conspiracy — Allenwood, Pennsylvania
Chukwuemeka Chinye — Larceny from a banking-type institution, fraud, larceny, identity theft and conspiracy — Pollock, Louisiana

DHS said the register was established to draw attention to immigrants it describes as the “worst of worst criminal aliens” arrested by ICE.

“Every day, the patriots of ICE are working to target the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from our country. Just yesterday, ICE arrested murderers, pedophiles, kidnappers, and other violent criminals to make America safe again,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, there will be no safe haven for illegal aliens, including in sanctuary cities which put illegal aliens over their own citizens. We will never apologize for arresting and deporting illegal aliens, because that’s how we protect American lives.”

The department said the latest immigration enforcement actions were part of the Trump administration’s deportation policy.

“Under DHS leadership, the hardworking men and women of DHS and ICE are fulfilling President Trump’s promise and carrying out mass deportations – starting with the worst of the worst – including the illegal aliens you see here,” the department said.

The latest publication comes after DHS released another list in July containing 124 Nigerians arrested by ICE and identified on the same register.

The July list featured Nigerians associated with a range of criminal offences, although the department did not provide specific deportation dates for those individuals

…Orders CCTV installation to stop vandalism

The federal government on Friday announced the closure of the River Niger bridge for one week.

The closure is to carry out repairs on the vandalised sections of the River Niger bridge road and install security architecture in the area.

Minister for Works, Engr Dave Umahi, disclosed this at Ogbunike in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra during an inspection tour of the bridge and other roads under construction in the South East and South South geopolitical zones of the country.

The first River Niger Bridge linking Asaba and Onitsha

He said motorists would, at the closure of the bridge, be directed to the Second Niger Bridge in order to give the contractors an adequate time frame to carry out the necessary repairs.

Recall that suspected vandals had looted vital bolts and irons used in the construction of the bridge, thereby exposing the bridge to obvious collapse and, in the process, threatening the lives of millions of road users and passersby.

He explained that security measures are being taken to avert a repeat occurrence of vandalism on the bridge.

“Bridges are designed for light load and dynamic loads so we have directed that work should start immediately and the entire asphalt be removed and put another one and there will be solar lights on that bridge in the next one week and we shall fix CCTV and connect it to the one in the 2nd Niger Bridge so that security will observe and whoever that tries to touch the bridge again is going to be arrested.

“Now on the first Niger bridge, we have seen the wickedness of the underworld. We have seen the man’s inhumanity to man; those things that they are removing is very dangerous to the beauty of that bridge and we have commenced action on that bridge,” he said.

He added; “There Is so much accumulated workload on that bridge, like it was with the 3rd Mainland Bridge, and every government that comes will put asphalt, and it is causing a lot of gridlock on that bridge.

“So these are the actions that we have taken and then getting down we came to the Enugu – Onitsha express and they are working in three sections and there the Enugu -Onitsha and another one is 17.5 km and the last one is about 20km by two and so I have directed them not to start any asphalt work or concrete work so what they are to do is to take measurements of all the failed sections and it should be milled out and then use 16mm binder to cover them very well all the way from head bridge to 21.5 km and they will finish one carriage way before they go to the other one.

“We have to attempt to work at night so that we don’t interfere with traffic and we have to get the road safety involved and our own local traffic managers they should commence the desilting of the drainage before commencing.

“To that effect we may have to close down the first Niger bridge in seven days time and we direct traffic to the second Niger bridge for us to fix the first Niger bridge in good time,” he stated.

At the ongoing construction of the second Niger Bridge access road, Engr Timothy Emenike, Controller, and Engr Nnamdi explained that there would be no more slow pace of work on the project, adding that the project is being executed from both fronts in order to beat the deadline.

“The project starts from Obosi down to Mkpor and Ogidi and now we are in Ogbunike and along this alignment between the last time you came we are working on several stops along this alignment and you have just seen the second bridge that is ongoing and we are almost about to start the third one”.

“Work pace will not be a hindrance until we exhaust what was given to us by the Anambra state government and I am happy to inform you that since the new Commissioner took over we have been going to the new Commissioner’s office and have been pressuring him to give us more work space.”

According to him, in the next week we shall have another work space of 5km between Obosi axis, working from both ends.

“We are cutting through the hill at Ogbunike to continue the work in that area,” they stated.

Anambra State Commissioner for Works, Arc Okey Ezeobi, announced that the right of way being demanded by the contractors would be granted to them, adding that an additional 5km has been added to the contractors.

Ezeobi thanked President Ahmed Bola Tinubu and Engr Dave Umahi for providing democracy dividends for the people of Anambra and the South East.

He reiterated the support of the people of the state ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“There is no better way to describe this as a renewed hope and not fit saying it and the Hon Minister with what you are doing with our wonderful President for the first time Easterners can come in and move out with ease and the bottleneck they had been a great harassment and that is sending people out of the South East, has been taken care of.

“One can now bypass Onitsha, bypass Asaba and you are on your way.

“You don’t know how glad the people of Anambra and the South East is and thank Mr President for us.

“There is no way to ask for democracy dividend than this and that is when you have a visionary leadership tailored towards alleviating the sufferings of the masses.

“Mr President is developing every part of Nigeria and regarding the right of way for this project, we are finalizing it and we are adding another 5km to what we have now and there will be more than enough for the contractor to work with,” he added.