Lagos Barber Dies One Day After Police Release

(Police Command. Photo by Punch News)
Babajide Adelowo, a barber from Lagos died just one day after the police let him go.

Police arrested a man at his shop in Iba Estate on October 6th because the believed he had illegal guns.

He was let go on Tuesday, 3 November.

His family says police tortured him while he was held.

They claim he was hung from a weightlifting rod with his hands and legs tied, and that he was left too weak to walk or feed himself.

They also say he was arrested without a warrant, that officers took items from his shop, and that his family and lawyers were kept from seeing him for long periods.

His uncle, Samson Adelowo, said the estate chairman went to plead for him and was made to pay 50,000 naira before he was allowed to leave.

His wife, Mariam, said that when police handed him over, he could barely stand.

She said he told her he had fainted several times in the cell and that other detainees fed and bathed him.

She said he began vomiting blood and struggling to breathe after his release.

A hospital report dated 5 November says he was brought in with heavy bleeding, pale skin and low blood pressure.

Doctors tried to save him, but he was declared d£ad after resuscitation failed.

The Lagos Police Command spokesperson, Abimbola Adebisi, said the barber was not tortured and promised an official statement.

Meanwhile, the Take It Back Movement has asked the Inspector General of Police and the Lagos Commissioner of Police to order an independent probe.

The group wants the officers involved identified and prosecuted, an independent autopsy carried out with the family present, and an investigation into the alleged extortion.

It also wants the family and witnesses protected.