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(The embattled ‘fake’ DG father, Adetunji Adeniyi and Adeniyi Adeyemi. Photo Credit: BBC Yoruba)
The father of Adeniyi Adeyemi, the self-acclaimed Director-General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, has spoken of his distress over the allegations levelled against his son, describing him as “well-behaved” and expressing dismay at the rumours surrounding the case.
He spoke out after security operatives raided his residence and took him away for questioning while searching for his son.
Speaking during a Wednesday interview with an online news platform at his residence in Ogbomosho, Oyo State, Adetunji Adeniyi described his son as “soft-hearted” and “well-behaved,” saying he was taken aback by the allegations being made against him.
“My child is not a troublesome person who will do that type of thing that they are looking for him,” he said.
Narrating the raid, the elderly man alleged that security operatives climbed over the fence into his compound before forcing their way into the house.
“They jumped into my compound through the fence. They spoilt the barbed wire and started banging on the door.
I asked who was at the door, and they identified themselves as government security personnel. They barged inside and started scattering everywhere, searching everywhere,” he said.
He added that although the operatives searched the premises thoroughly, they were unable to locate his son.
“They came back again before they eventually left,” he said.
According to Adetunji, the operatives never disclosed the specific offence his son was alleged to have committed.
“They did not tell me what my son did. They just told me that the government was looking for him.”
He said the officers questioned him about his son’s place of work, but he could only tell them what his son had told the family that he worked for the government in Abuja.
“They asked me where my son works. I said I do not know, but he told me he works with the government in Abuja. I have never been to his office before,” he said.
The elderly man also disclosed that he had seen his son recently before his return to Abuja. “He came home recently and told me he was returning to Abuja, his workplace.
The police then questioned why I did not know his whereabouts. I asked if I was supposed to stop him from going back to work.
After the questioning, they arrested me before I was later released.”
Voicing his concern over the situation, he said, “My child is soft-hearted and well-behaved. I am not physically fit, and all the rumours I am hearing are making me unhappy. I am surprised by the allegations.”
An online news platform had earlier reported that human rights lawyer Femi Falana criticised the police over how Adeyemi’s father was treated, arguing that taking the elderly man to a police station could not be justified under the law.
Speaking during a Tuesday interview with a television network, Falana, who is representing Adeyemi, said the Nigeria Police later informed him that the elderly man had not been formally arrested but merely invited to assist investigators.
“The reported arrest of Mr Adeyemi’s father cannot be justified under the Constitution, under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, and under the Nigeria Police Act,” Falana said.
He explained that police officers subsequently told him the elderly man had only been invited to assist with the investigation and was released after giving a statement.
“I got a call from the police officers in Abuja this evening, where I was informed that the old man wasn’t really arrested.
The police merely invited him to take them to a particular place as part of their investigation, and that he was asked to make a statement,” he said. Falana maintained, however, that the police ought to have taken the man’s statement at his residence rather than bringing him to a police station.
The online news platform had also reported that police operatives stormed the Adeyemi family residence after failing to locate the suspect and went on to question his father regarding his whereabouts.
A neighbour had alleged that officers copied contacts from the elderly man’s phone before letting him go.
Adeyemi is currently facing an eight-count charge before the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations of forgery, impersonation and running a fictitious government agency.
The controversy centres on his claim to be the Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, a body the Presidency has repeatedly insisted does not exist.
He also claimed during a television interview that he had paid ₦400 million to secure the appointment, an allegation the Presidency has firmly denied.
On Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to investigate the activities of the purported council, describing it as a fictitious body with no legal backing, and ordered the anti-graft agency to submit its findings within 30 days.