The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday ordered the arrest of Adeniyi Adeyemi after he failed to appear for his scheduled arraignment on charges regarding the activities of the fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).
Judge Mohammed Umar issued the warrant for the defendant’s arrest following an oral application by the prosecution.
The judge waved away Mr Adeyemi’s lawyer excuse for his client’s absence to issue the arrest order.
The defence lawyer said his client was absent from court because he feared for his life and that he had written a letter to President Bola Tinubu regarding it.
He added that Mr Adeyemi intended to stay alive to face his trial.
Not swayed by the assertions, Judge Umar responded by telling the lawyer that the court would “help him to be alive.”
The judge then issued a bench warrant for Mr Adeyemi’s arrest.
He then set 30 September as the new date for defendant’s arraignment.
Mr Adeyemi faces eight charges relating to his running and operation of purported PFIPC, an agency the Presidency has said does not exist.
The case had suffered several adjournments before Tuesday’s proceedings.
DECENCY GLOBAL NEWS reported earlier on Tuesday that by mid-day, Mr Adeyemi, who had missed previous proceedings on health grounds, had yet to arrive the courtroom where the judge commenced the day’s sitting shortly after 10 a.m.
Mr Adeyemi’s case was listed as number 12 on the court’s cause list.
Although no specific time was fixed for the hearing, parties in matters scheduled for the day, particularly defendants in criminal cases whose presence is mandatory are expected to be in court before proceedings begin.
