Family alleges torture as Lagos barber dies after 28 days in police custody

A Lagos barber, Babajide Adelowo, has died after allegedly suffering severe torture during 28 days in police custody, with his family demanding an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding his arrest, detention and death.

Adelowo reportedly died on November 4, a day after he was released by operatives of the Lagos State Police Command’s X-Squad, who arrested him over alleged possession of firearms.

His family accused the police officers of subjecting him to prolonged torture, including repeatedly suspending him from a weightlifting rod with his hands and legs tied.
They also alleged that the officers denied him access to his family and lawyers, seized belongings from his barbing shop and released him in a critical medical condition.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Adelowo was arrested at his shop in Iba Estate, Iyana-Iba, on October 6 and released on November 3 after spending 28 days in detention.
Narrating the arrest, his uncle, Samson Adelowo, said the police searched the shop but found no firearms.

“They came to arrest my brother on the grounds that he owned firearms. They searched the shop, broke the ceiling and opened the water tank, but they could not find anything,” he said.
The uncle questioned why the operatives allegedly removed a generator, chairs and other items from the shop despite failing to recover any firearms.

“What was the connection between the allegation against him and the items they removed from his shop?” he asked.
Samson further alleged that the police seized Adelowo’s telephone and prevented him from contacting his family. Lawyers engaged by the family were reportedly allowed to see him only two or three times during the detention.

He also alleged that Adelowo’s wife was threatened with arrest when she attempted to visit him, while an estate chairman who accompanied the lawyers to meet the police team was detained and allegedly forced to pay N50,000 for his release.
“The chairman eventually paid N50,000 before he was allowed to go,” Samson said.

Adelowo’s wife, Mariam, said her husband was extremely weak and could barely walk when the police released him at PWD bus stop.
She said the officers brought him in a vehicle, helped him into the family’s car and handed over a referral note from the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Meta, alongside a bag containing drips, plaster and other 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.
The widow said her husband disputed the officers’ suggestion that he had an existing illness.

“When they handed him to us, they said the ailment was already in his body, but my husband sharply objected and said he had never had the symptoms,” she added.

According to Mariam, her husband narrated his alleged ordeal 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,” she said.

She alleged that the officers also squeezed his hands with an instrument, affecting his muscles and veins.
The barber reportedly became so weak that he could neither feed himself nor attend to his personal needs, with fellow detainees helping him eat and bathe.

“He also told me that he fainted four times while in detention,” she said.
The widow said the last incident occurred when other detainees raised the alarm after he reportedly collapsed.
She added that 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,” she said.

Mariam said her husband was taken to hospital two days before his release and subsequently contacted her, but ended the call almost immediately.
She also said he was wearing different clothes when the police handed him over, explaining that his original clothes had been soaked in blood.

Following his release, the family took him for further medical treatment, where he received a blood transfusion. However, his condition deteriorated as he began vomiting blood and experiencing difficulty breathing.
Samson said doctors informed the family that Adelowo needed six pints of blood, but they could obtain only one pint before his condition worsened.

A medical report dated November 5, 2026, detailed the circumstances surrounding his final admission.
The report, addressed to the Head of Pathology at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, said Adelowo was brought to the hospital on November 3 with complaints of bleeding, vomiting blood, abdominal pain, general body weakness and anaemia.
It described him as acutely ill, lethargic, pale and dehydrated, with mild tenderness around his navel.

The hospital said its assessment indicated symptomatic anaemia resulting from upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeding, complicated by haemorrhagic shock.
It stated that Adelowo was admitted, blood samples were collected and treatment commenced.
According to the report, he received one pint of blood and was awaiting a second when he began convulsing and vomiting.

Although the symptoms initially stopped, his oxygen level subsequently dropped, prompting the hospital to administer 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 stated.
It added that all resuscitation efforts proved unsuccessful and he was subsequently declared dead.

Mariam, who said the couple had one child, described her husband as a responsible breadwinner who provided for the family.
“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.

She recalled how their son repeatedly asked when his father would return, adding that the child eventually saw his father’s corpse the day after his death.
Demanding justice, the widow said neither she nor the family’s lawyer had been contacted by the police to inquire about Adelowo’s condition after his release.

“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.
The Lagos State Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement, Adekunle Taofeek, has also called on the Inspector-General of Police and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police to order an independent investigation.

The group demanded the identification and prosecution of any officers attached to the CP-X Squad found culpable of alleged unlawful detention, torture, extortion and denial of medical care.
It also called for an independent autopsy involving the family to establish the cause of death and determine whether alleged physical abuse or denial of medical attention contributed to the tragedy.

The movement further demanded an investigation into an alleged N10m demand and the reported collection of N50,000 from the estate chairman.
It also called for the recovery of the generator, chairs and other belongings allegedly taken from Adelowo’s shop, as well as protection for the family and witnesses against intimidation.

The group insisted that no criminal allegation justified torture, extortion or inhuman treatment, adding that police officers must be held accountable for abuses.

When contacted on Sunday, the Lagos State Police Command spokesperson, Abimbola Adebisi, denied that Adelowo was tortured.
“An official statement will be issued on that tomorrow,” she said.