Beyond Frank Omenka’s moonlight tales, By Olusegun Adeniyi

Retired Colonel Frank Omenka has granted an interview where he extensively referenced journalist Olusegun Adeniyi, detailing past encounters during Omenka's tenure in security services. Omenka claimed Adeniyi was arrested as a courier for Cornelius Adebayo or similar figures and described interrogating him, emphasizing that he did not physically harm him.

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There are many approaches to interrogation. It depends on the condition. I didn’t touch anybody with the ones I used. There’s this boy, Olusegun Adeniyi. He’s a pressman like you people.

"There are many approaches to interrogation. It depends on the condition. I didn’t touch anybody with the ones I used. There’s this boy, Olusegun Adeniyi. He’s a pressman like you people," Omenka stated in the interview. He recounted Adeniyi's arrest and his own subsequent advice to the young journalist. "When he left, what did he do? He wrote a book, saying that I was hostile to him. Yes, people are mad because they suffered," Omenka added, suggesting Adeniyi's account was biased.

Omenka further elaborated on Adeniyi's release, stating he had begged him not to engage in courier activities or drug peddling. He described Adeniyi's nervousness and his instruction to return the next day, implying Adeniyi was not detained. "As he was about to go, I just said, just one minute. Please come back. Don’t put us in trouble. In any case, if you don’t come back, we are going to arrest this person," Omenka recalled.

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When he left, what did he do? He wrote a book, saying that I was hostile to him. Yes, people are mad because they suffered.

However, Adeniyi's account of the events, which occurred approximately 30 years ago, presents a different perspective. At the time, Adeniyi was working as an Assistant Editor at Sunday Concord and living with Chief Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo, a former Second Republic Kwara State Governor. Adebayo had been arrested and detained for eight months. Following his release, Adebayo was reportedly warned that security forces were pursuing him and subsequently fled Nigeria, seeking asylum in Canada. Adeniyi's encounter with Omenka reportedly happened when he visited Adebayo in Abidjan and was subsequently arrested at the Seme border upon his return to Nigeria.

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As he was about to go, I just said, just one minute. Please come back. Don’t put us in trouble. In any case, if you don’t come back, we are going to arrest this person.