A Lagos-based barber, Babajide Adelowo, has died one day after his release from police custody, where he was allegedly held for 28 days following his arrest over suspected possession of firearms.
According to information gathered, operatives of the X-Squad of the Lagos State Police Command arrested Adelowo at his shop in Iba Estate, Iyana-Iba area of the state, on October 6, and released him on Tuesday, November 3.
The family has accused the operatives of subjecting him to severe torture while in detention. They alleged that the barber was repeatedly suspended from a weightlifting rod with his hands and legs tied, leaving him unable to walk or feed himself without assistance.
The family further alleged that the police arrested him without a warrant, seized items from his shop, and restricted his access to his family and lawyers during his detention.
Family recounts circumstances of arrest
Narrating the circumstances surrounding the arrest, the deceased’s uncle, Samson Adelowo, said the operatives came to arrest his nephew on the grounds that he owned firearms. According to him, they searched the shop, broke the ceiling, and opened the water tank, but found nothing.
He said what he found most disturbing was that the operatives also took the barber’s generator, chairs, and other materials from the shop, questioning the connection between the allegation against him and the items removed.
Samson alleged that the police seized his nephew’s phone and did not allow him to contact anybody in his family. He said the family had to engage lawyers to follow up on the matter, but throughout the 28 days he spent in custody, the lawyers were only allowed to see him about two or three times, with restricted access at other times.
He further alleged that his nephew’s wife was threatened with arrest when she attempted to visit him.
According to him, the estate chairman, who accompanied the lawyers to meet the police team, was detained and made to part with N50,000 to secure his release. Samson said the estate chairman went with the lawyers to meet the team leader and explained that Babajide was known in the community as a peaceful person and that he was one of the estate’s security officers. Instead of listening to him, the officer allegedly threatened to detain him, and the chairman eventually paid N50,000 before he was allowed to go.
He said Adelowo’s condition deteriorated while in detention before he was eventually released to his family.
Wife describes husband’s condition at release
Adelowo’s wife, Mariam, said her husband could barely walk and appeared extremely weak when the police handed him over to the family by the roadside.
She said the police brought him to the PWD bus stop in a vehicle and helped him into the family’s car before handing over a referral note from the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Meta, alongside a bag containing medical supplies.
“When we saw him, he could not even walk properly. He was so pale and fragile. The police officers were the ones guiding him into our car. They told us to handle him carefully and take him straight to the hospital,” she said.
She said the officers handed over a referral note from the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Meta, and a nylon bag containing drips, plaster, and some other medical items, which she still has in her possession. According to her, the officers said the ailment was already in his body, but her husband sharply objected and said he had never had the symptoms.
Detainee recounts alleged torture
The widow said her husband began narrating his experience in detention while they were taking him to the hospital.
“He told me that they would tie his hands and legs to a weightlifting rod and hang him for about 30 or 40 minutes. He said they did that to him three times. He also told me that they squeezed his hands with an instrument until his muscles and veins were affected,” she said.
She said he became so weak that he could not feed himself or even take care of his personal needs, and that other suspects in the cell were the ones helping him to eat and bathe. He also told her that he fainted four times while in detention.
The wife added that the last incident occurred on the day he was taken to the hospital after other detainees reportedly raised the alarm. She said he regained consciousness to find himself covered in blood and faeces, while his clothes were soaked in blood.
“He told me that the last time he fainted, he woke up and saw blood all over him. He had also passed stool on himself. The other people in the cell were shouting for help before he was taken to the hospital by the police on Sunday, which was two days before he was released to us. It was from the hospital that he called me and said he was in the hospital. He also ended the call immediately, and I could not reach him again,” she said.
She said when she saw him after his release, she noticed that the clothes he was wearing were not his. He told her that his clothes had been soaked in blood and that the police had bought another set of clothes for him.
Hospital treatment and deterioration
The wife said the family took him to the hospital after his release, where he received a blood transfusion. She said his condition deteriorated, and he began vomiting blood and experiencing difficulty breathing.
Samson said the family was told that the deceased needed six pints of blood, adding that they were able to obtain one pint before his condition worsened.
The wife also alleged that her husband told her that a fellow detainee had identified him to the police as someone who kept firearms. She said the detainee later apologised to her husband while in custody, claiming that he had been asked to identify him.
The widow, who said the couple had one child, described her late husband as a caring and responsible man who provided for the family. She said the four weeks he spent in detention placed an enormous burden on her, as she had to take on responsibilities she was not accustomed to handling.
“My husband was a very responsible man. He took care of his family 100 per cent and took full responsibility for everything. When he was detained, I had to start doing things I had never done before,” she said.
“My son kept asking me, ‘When is Daddy coming back?’ I kept assuring him that his father would return. Unfortunately, he did not see his father again until the day after he died, when he saw his corpse. It has not been easy for us,” she added.
Widow demands justice
Demanding justice, the widow said the police had not contacted her or the family’s lawyer since her husband’s release to ask about his condition.
“I want justice for my husband. They released someone who was almost dying, yet they did not call to ask about his health. They did not contact even the lawyer or me to find out how he was doing,” she said.
Medical report details cause of death
A medical report issued by the hospital where he was admitted, dated November 5, 2026, stated that Adelowo was brought to the facility on November 3 with complaints including bleeding, vomiting blood, abdominal pain, general body weakness, and anaemia.
The report, addressed to the Head of Pathology at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, said he appeared acutely ill, lethargic, pale, and dehydrated, with mild tenderness around his navel.
The hospital said an assessment of symptomatic anaemia secondary to upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeding, complicated by haemorrhagic shock, was made. It stated that he was admitted, blood samples were collected, and treatment commenced.
According to the report, Adelowo received one pint of blood without complications and was awaiting a second pint when he began convulsing and vomiting. Although the symptoms stopped spontaneously, his oxygen level subsequently dropped, prompting the hospital to place him on supplemental oxygen and refer him to a tertiary health facility.
About an hour later, he began gasping, prompting medical personnel to commence cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The report added that he was later clinically declared dead and his relative was informed with due empathy.
The case has raised concerns about the treatment of suspects in police custody and the circumstances surrounding Adelowo’s arrest and detention, with his family insisting that those responsible must be held accountable for his death.
