The controversy surrounding the alleged ₦1.3 billion Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) scandal deepened on Monday as the Nigeria Police Force reportedly arrested the father of the council’s embattled promoter, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, amid ongoing investigations into the alleged “ghost agency” linked to the Presidency.
Adeyemi, who claims to be the council’s Director-General, is currently standing trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja on charges of conspiracy, forgery and impersonation, while the Federal Government listed Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, and 10 others as prosecution witnesses in the case.
It was learnt that Adeyemi’s father, alongside a family friend, who visited him on Monday morning, was arrested by the police, leaving Adeniyi’s aged mother in shock.
Senior lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) and a couple of eyewitnesses confirmed the arrest to
in a telephone interview on Monday.
“Police stormed the house of the parents of Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi on Plot 3, Adeniyi Dynasty, behind Technical College, Road Safety Area, Ogbomoso,” Falana said.
“The father has been arrested. There is no legal basis for substituted arrests. The young man has promised to show up in court, so why arrest his father?”
A neighbour of the Adeyemis also said that police officers arrived at the premises in four vehicles before allegedly taking the father away.
The source said, “They came with four vehicles, and they started harassing them and eventually took the father away. They didn’t allow the neighbours to intervene before they took him away. At the moment, there is a man in blue clothes patrolling the area.”
Another neighbour, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the development.
“Baba was taken away to Agbomire police station with someone who came to visit them this morning. They left the mother, who is currently in shock, but we have moved her away,” the eyewitness said in Yoruba.
Police mum
However, Force Headquarters spokesman, Anietie Iniedu, despite being told that operatives from the FCID carried out the arrest, asked for the exact unit.
He said, “I have not been briefed on the arrest. Who picked him up? Which section? Which section in FCID? The police force is large. Tell me the section, so, I can find out from them.”
Efforts to reach him subsequently proved abortive.
Several messages sent to his telephone to comment on the matter, and also on whether the forensic examination had been done on Gbajabiamila’s signature, were not replied as of the time of filing this report.
Also, the Oyo State Police Public Relations Officer, Olayinka Ayanlade, in Ibadan, the state capital, said, “The case involving Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew is a matter of national interest and is currently under investigation by the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Force Headquarters, Abuja.
“As such, it falls outside my jurisdiction. Consequently, anyone seeking updates regarding the alleged arrest of his parents in Ogbomoso or any other developments in the case is kindly advised to contact the Force Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters, Abuja, or the FCID Liaison Public Relations Officer for accurate and official information.”
The PUNCH