They broke into my home three times: father of PFIPC suspect alleges police raid, arrest

The father of Adeniyi Adeyemi, the self-styled director-general of the discredited Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), has accused security operatives of turning his Ogbomoso home into a target of repeated raids, alleging that officers stormed the property three times in 48 hours, damaged parts of the residence, seized the family’s mobile phones and arrested him in a bid to locate his son.

The allegations come as the Federal Government intensifies its investigation into the so-called PFIPC, an organisation the Presidency has publicly disowned, with President Bola Tinubu directing the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate Adeyemi and the activities of the purported agency.

Speaking in an interview with BBC Yoruba on Wednesday, Adetunji Adeniyi said armed operatives first arrived at his residence on Monday by scaling the perimeter fence and damaging the security barbed wire before forcing their way into the compound.

“They jumped the fence into my compound and destroyed the security wire at the entrance before entering. They banged on my door and identified themselves as government security officials. When I opened the door, they rushed in and searched the entire house, including all the cupboards,” he said.

According to him, the officers returned about 2:30 p.m. the same day after an initial search around 1 p.m., confiscated the family’s mobile phones and left. He said they came back again at about 11:30 p.m. the following day, continuing their search for his son.

Adetunji said the operatives repeatedly demanded to know Adeyemi’s whereabouts but never disclosed the allegations against him.

“I don’t know what my son did. They only said the government was looking for him. I told them he said he worked for the government in Abuja, but I have never visited his workplace,” he said.

He added that when he failed to provide his son’s residential address in Abuja, the operatives took him into custody.

“They asked why I did not know where my son lives. I told them he lives in Abuja. After asking several questions, they told me to follow them to the police station, and that was how I was arrested,” he said.

Human rights lawyer Femi Falana had earlier criticised the arrest, arguing that there was no legal basis for detaining a suspect’s relative.

“Police have now stormed the house of the parents of Prince Adeyemi Adeniyi… 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 said.

The elder Adeniyi insisted he could not reconcile the allegations with the character of his son.

“My son avoids trouble. Since childhood, he has never been someone who fights or causes problems. Everything they said he did is difficult for me to believe,” he said.

Describing the experience as traumatic, he said the repeated raids and his arrest had left him shaken.

The incident marks the latest twist in the unfolding PFIPC saga after the presidency distanced itself from the organisation, describing it as non-existent, and ordered a full-scale anti-corruption investigation into the activities carried out in its name.