The circumstances surrounding the arrest of self-acclaimed Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi, have emerged following his apprehension by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force.
Adeyemi was arrested last Tuesday by the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), led by Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Moses Lohor, during an operation carried out between 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. in the Ijebu-Ijesa area of Osun State.
His arrest came after a Federal High Court in Abuja issued a bench warrant against him over his alleged failure to appear in court to answer eight criminal charges.
According to information obtained by Punch, security operatives traced Adeyemi’s whereabouts to the Aregbe-Fakule area of Osogbo on July 9 after he had reportedly evaded previous attempts by the Department of State Services (DSS) to apprehend him.
A senior police officer in the Osun State Police Command disclosed that the IRT took over the operation after the DSS reportedly stepped away from the case. The team later tracked Adeyemi to Ilesa, where he was eventually arrested on Tuesday.
The source explained that the IRT was initially deployed to Osun State for intelligence gathering ahead of the August 15 governorship election, focusing on identifying security flashpoints and collecting strategic information.
According to the officer, the team operated independently from the Area Command office in Oke-Fia, Osogbo, without formally reporting to the Osun State Police Command.
The source further revealed that although Adeyemi had been on the IRT’s watchlist, the team refrained from taking action while the DSS was still handling the matter.
The DSS had reportedly last tracked him to Ibadan but was unable to arrest him because he frequently switched off his mobile phone to avoid detection.
Following notification from a senior police officer in Abuja that the DSS had withdrawn from the investigation, the IRT began fresh surveillance on July 9 and successfully traced Adeyemi to Osogbo.
His location was later detected around Ilesa on Monday night, prompting intensified surveillance that culminated in his arrest the following morning.
The source added that the Osun State Commissioner of Police was informed only when the operatives were ready to execute the arrest.
Adeyemi is currently being held at the Force Headquarters in Abuja and is expected to be arraigned before the Federal High Court on July 27.