By Gloria Drealomalicha
The controversy surrounding the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) took a dramatic turn on Monday after police operatives reportedly arrested the father of Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi, the central figure in an ongoing forgery investigation linked to the controversial body.
The operation, carried out at the family’s residence in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, has drawn criticism from legal practitioners and residents, who argue that the arrest may have been an attempt to pressure Adeniyi into surrendering to law enforcement authorities.
Sources familiar with the incident told The said that officers also arrested a family friend who had visited the residence on Monday morning. The operation reportedly left Adeniyi’s elderly mother traumatised as police searched the property.
The latest development comes amid investigations into the activities of the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, an organisation whose legitimacy has already been disowned by the Presidency.
Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, confirmed the raid in a telephone interview, describing the operation as unlawful.
“Police have now stormed the house of the parents of Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi, Plot 3, Adeniyi Dynasty, behind Technical College, Road Safety Area, Ogbomoso,” Falana said.
He questioned the legal basis for arresting Adeniyi’s father, insisting that the suspect had already indicated his willingness to appear before the appropriate authorities.
“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?” Falana asked.
His remarks echo long-standing concerns over the practice of what legal experts describe as “substituted arrest” the detention of relatives or associates in place of suspects a practice that Nigerian courts have repeatedly ruled unlawful.
An eyewitness in the neighbourhood alleged that a large contingent of police officers arrived in four vehicles before taking the elderly man into custody.
“They came with four vehicles, started harassing the family and eventually took the father away. They didn’t allow neighbours to intervene before they left. Right now, there is a man in blue clothes patrolling the area,” the resident claimed.
The witness added that the heavy security presence caused anxiety among residents, many of whom watched the operation unfold without understanding why Adeniyi’s father and the family friend were being detained.
As of the time of filing this report, the Nigeria Police Force had not issued an official statement explaining the circumstances surrounding the arrests or the legal grounds for detaining the two men.
It also remains unclear where they were taken or whether either of them has been formally charged with any offence.
The arrests mark the latest development in the controversy surrounding the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, which is under investigation over allegations of forgery and other related offences.
Adeniyi has consistently denied any wrongdoing, maintaining that he was lawfully appointed to lead the council at the centre of the controversy.
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