A Lagos barber has died just one day after being released from police custody, where he spent 28 days following his arrest over alleged possession of firearms. His family says he was tortured in detention. The police say he was not.

Babajide Adelowo was arrested at his shop in Iba Estate, in the Iyana-Iba area of Lagos, on 6 October by officers from the X-Squad of the Lagos State Police Command. He was released on Tuesday, 3 November, and died the following day, according to a report by PUNCH Metro published on 9 November.

His family claims that during his 28 days in detention, Adelowo was hung from a weightlifting rod with his hands and legs bound, leaving him unable to walk or eat on his own. His wife, Mariam, said he told her on the way to hospital that officers tied his hands and legs to the rod and hung him for about 30 or 40 minutes, three times, and squeezed his hands until his muscles and veins were affected.

Family describes four weeks of ill health

Mariam said her husband could hardly walk and looked very weak when officers brought him to the roadside on his release. She said police officers helped him into the family's car and told them to take him straight to hospital, handing over a referral note from the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Meta, along with a bag of medical supplies.

She said he told her he had fainted four times in detention, the last time just before he was taken to hospital, and that he woke up covered in blood and faeces while his clothes were soaked in blood, with other people in the cell shouting for help before police took him to hospital.

A medical report dated 5 November said Adelowo was admitted on 3 November with serious complaints including bleeding, vomiting blood, abdominal pain, weakness and anaemia. The report described him as acutely ill and dehydrated, with tenderness around his stomach. The hospital found he had severe anaemia caused by bleeding, leading to shock. He was given a pint of blood, but began convulsing and vomiting shortly after, and was later pronounced dead.

His uncle, Samson Adelowo, said the family was told Adelowo needed six pints of blood but could only manage to get one before his condition deteriorated. He said the family believes the arrest itself was unlawful: officers came on the grounds that Adelowo owned firearms, searched the shop, broke the ceiling and opened the water tank, but found nothing.

Allegations of seized property and restricted access

Samson said officers also took items from the shop, including a generator and chairs, and seized Adelowo's phone, leaving him unable to contact his family. He said lawyers engaged by the family were only allowed to see Adelowo about two or three times during the 28 days, with restricted access at other times, and that his wife was threatened with arrest when she tried to visit.

He also said the chairman of the estate, who went with the lawyers to meet the team leader and vouch for Adelowo as a peaceful man and one of the estate's security officers, was himself threatened with detention and eventually paid N50,000 before he was allowed to go.

Mariam said a fellow detainee had pointed her husband out to the police as someone who kept firearms, but later apologised to him in custody, saying he had been pressured to identify him. She described her late husband as a responsible man who took care of his family, and said their young son kept asking when his father would come home. The boy did not see his father again until the day after he died, when he saw his corpse.

Calls for investigation

The Lagos State Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement, Adekunle Taofeek, has called for an independent investigation into the arrest, detention, alleged torture and death of Adelowo. The group wants the officers involved identified and prosecuted, an independent autopsy to establish the cause of death and whether torture or lack of medical care played a part, and protection for the family and witnesses from intimidation.

When contacted, the Lagos police spokesperson, Abimbola Adebisi, stated that the deceased was not tortured, adding that an official statement would be issued the following day. Mariam said the police have not contacted her or the family's lawyer since her husband's release to ask about his condition, and she is demanding justice.