Just hours after a Federal High Court in Abuja issued a bench warrant for his arrest, the run of Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi—the self-styled Director-General of the fictitious Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC)—came to a dramatic end in the early hours of Tuesday, July 14, 2026.
In a swift, intelligence-led sting operation, operatives of the Force Intelligence Department–Intelligence Response Team (FID-IRT) from Abuja tracked the embattled “fake DG” to his remote hideout in Osun State, neutralizing his week-long evasion of justice.
The operation officially puts the suspect in police custody ahead of his rescheduled arraignment on September 30, 2026, where he faces an eight-count charge bordering on conspiracy, forgery of presidential signatures, and impersonation.
The Dragnet: 10 Days in the Shadows
Sources within the security apparatus revealed that the hunt for Adeyemi had been intensely coordinated for over ten days. Prior to his arrest, a specialized team from the Department of State Services (DSS) had been actively trailing the suspect, who had gone completely off the grid.
To evade tracking, Adeyemi had switched off all his mobile phones for at least 48 hours and relocated from Abuja to a safehouse in his home state of Osun. However, advanced geo-tracking and local human intelligence eventually pinpointed his exact coordinates.
Confirming the development, the Police Public Relations Officer for the Osun State Command, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Abiodun Ojelabi, stated that the operation was executed directly by the tactical team from the Force Headquarters in Abuja.
“Yes, we are aware that the individual parading himself as the Director-General of the controversial PFIPC, Adeyemi, was picked up in the state,” Ojelabi told reporters. “The team that effected the arrest came from Abuja. He was arrested in his hideout by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Ibadan, and from there, directly to Abuja for interrogation.”
The Arrest: Reluctance to Self-Identify
A leaked video of the early morning raid emerged shortly after the operation, showing a visibly shaken Adeyemi surrounded by heavily armed IRT operatives.
Dressed in a light blue traditional outfit (Agbada), the suspect initially appeared hesitant and reluctant to immediately identify himself when questioned by the arresting officers. Only after a brief confrontation did he admit his identity, allowing the operatives to secure him and quickly evacuate the location to avoid any local interference.
The arrest came as a direct response to Justice Mohammed Umar’s firm order at the Federal High Court on Tuesday morning. When Adeyemi’s lawyer, Genesis Francis, argued that his client had gone into hiding because his “life was in danger” following the suspicious death of a key intermediary, Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola, Justice Umar had dryly retorted, “The court will help him stay alive,” before signing the bench warrant.
The Web of Deceit and the N400 Million Claim
With Adeyemi now in custody, investigators are set to grill him over the extensive logistics of his alleged multi-million-naira fraudulent enterprise.
Police investigations have established that the 38-year-old conned the public and diplomatic community by establishing a fully staffed office at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja, using forged presidential letterheads, and fabricating an official appointment letter with the forged signature of the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila. He also fraudulently opened a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) account and operated 34 separate commercial bank accounts under various dummy corporate names.
While the government has completely disowned the PFIPC, Adeyemi’s supporters and legal team maintain that he was a victim of high-level political extortion. Before his capture, Adeyemi had doubled down on his explosive claims that he borrowed ₦400 million from private creditors to pay as a “facilitation fee” to Gbajabiamila to secure the appointment. He claimed his failure to repay the debt led to his petitioning before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
As the suspect begins his detention at the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) in Abuja, pressure is mounting on the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to expedite its independent probe into how such a monumental institutional breach was allowed to occur inside the Federal Secretariat.
Ayodele Quadri
Correspondent
