A Lagos barber, Babajide Adelowo, has died one day after he was released from police detention, and his family is accusing officers of torturing him while he was in custody. The Lagos State Police Command has denied the allegation.
According to a report by Tori News, police picked Adelowo up at his barbing shop in Iba Estate, Lagos, on October 6. Officers reportedly suspected him of being in possession of illegal firearms. The report does not say whether any weapon was recovered or whether he was ever charged.
What the family alleges
Relatives claim Adelowo was badly abused during his time in police hands. They allege that he was suspended from a weightlifting rod with both his hands and legs bound, and that the treatment left him so weak that he could neither walk nor eat on his own.
The family further alleges that officers arrested him without a warrant, carried away items from his shop, and for long stretches refused to let his relatives and lawyers see him. None of these claims has been independently confirmed.
His uncle, Samson Adelowo, said the chairman of the estate went to the police to plead on the barber's behalf. According to the uncle, the chairman was made to pay N50,000 before Adelowo was let go. The police have not publicly responded to the extortion claim.
Wife recounts his final day
Adelowo's wife, Mariam, said her husband was hardly able to stay on his feet when officers handed him back to the family. She said he told her he had passed out a number of times inside the cell, and that fellow detainees were the ones who fed him and washed him.
Mariam said that after he got out, he started vomiting blood and had difficulty breathing.
A hospital report dated November 5, cited by Tori News, states that he arrived with heavy bleeding, pale skin and low blood pressure. Medical staff attempted to revive him, but he was pronounced dead after resuscitation efforts did not succeed. The cause of death has not been officially established, and no autopsy result has been made public.
Police deny torture
Responding to the allegations, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Abimbola Adebisi, said the barber was not tortured. She promised that the command would issue an official statement on the matter. As of the time of the report, that statement had not been referenced.
Rights group demands independent probe
The Take It Back Movement has called on the Inspector General of Police and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police to order an independent investigation into Adelowo's death.
