Phantom DG detained as Gbajabiamila files ₦15bn suit
The director of a fake government agency is detained at the former SARS headquarters while the Chief of Staff sues him for defamation.
Adeniyi Adeyemi, the controversial Director-General of the Presidential Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), is currently detained at the headquarters of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Abuja. He was flown into the capital on a private jet on Thursday, shortly after his arrest in Osun State. The police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), led by Chief Superintendent Moses Lohor, is interrogating him over allegations relating to the unlawful operation of an organisation presented as a federal government agency.
The detention follows a warrant issued by Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja. President Bola Tinubu has given the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) 30 days to probe the controversy. But the police are holding him at the IRT headquarters in Guzape, Abuja. A senior officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the location. “He was arrested by IRT officials, not by any officers attached to any of the commands. So, he’s presently at IRT headquarters answering questions,” the source explained.
The case has taken a new turn. Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila has filed a ₦15 billion defamation suit against Adeyemi. The suit, filed at the Federal Capital Territory High Court, seeks ₦10 billion in general damages, ₦5 billion in aggravated damages, ₦200 million as the cost of the action, and an order compelling Adeyemi to publish a full retraction and apology in five national newspapers. Gbajabiamila is also asking the court to direct the defendant to pin the apology on all social media platforms for 30 days.
The defamation suit stems from Adeyemi’s allegations that Gbajabiamila demanded a 48 per cent kickback from a ₦27.3 billion take-off grant approved for a federal agency. The allegations have not been substantiated, but they have caused political damage. Gbajabiamila’s response is aggressive: a ₦15 billion suit and a demand for a public apology. The case is now a legal battle that will test the limits of defamation law in Nigeria. The detention of Adeyemi at the former SARS headquarters, a location with a notorious history of human rights abuses, adds a darker dimension.
The historical parallel is the 2020 SARS protests, where young Nigerians demanded the disbandment of the unit over allegations of brutality and extortion. The unit was disbanded, but its headquarters now house the IRT, and Adeyemi is being held there. The irony is not lost. The police have not officially commented on the detention. But the symbolism is powerful.
Winners: Femi Gbajabiamila (if the suit succeeds), the ICPC (which has a new case to investigate).
Losers: Adeniyi Adeyemi, the PFIPC (now exposed as a fake agency), the police's reputation (for holding a suspect at SARS headquarters).
Bottom Line: The Adeyemi case is a three-ring circus: a fake agency, a private jet, a defamation suit, and a detention at a site that symbolises Nigeria’s troubled security history.