A Lagos barber, Babajide Adelowo, has died one day after he was released from police custody, where he had spent 28 days following his arrest in the Iyana-Iba area of Lagos.
PUNCH Metro reported that operatives of the X-Squad of the Lagos State Police Command arrested Adelowo at his shop in Iba Estate, Iyana-Iba, on October 6, over claims of having firearms. He was released on Tuesday, November 3.
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- Adelowo was arrested on October 6 at his barbing shop in Iba Estate, Iyana-Iba
- He spent 28 days in detention and was released on November 3
- A hospital report dated November 5 listed bleeding, vomiting blood, abdominal pain, weakness and anaemia
- His family alleges he was tortured in detention; police say he was not tortured
What the family and the hospital report say
Adelowo's uncle, Samson Adelowo, shared details of the arrest with PUNCH Metro on Saturday, according to the report. The family claims the police tortured him while he was in detention.
A medical report from the hospital where he was admitted, dated November 5, said Adelowo was admitted on November 3 with serious complaints including bleeding, vomiting blood, abdominal pain, weakness and anaemia.
The report, addressed to the Head of Pathology at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, made an assessment of symptomatic anaemia secondary to upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeding, complicated by haemorrhagic shock. Efforts to revive him proved unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead, with his family informed afterwards.
Police response and calls for an investigation
When contacted, the Lagos State Police Command spokesperson, Abimbola Adebisi, stated that the deceased was not tortured. That denial is on record in the same reports that carried the family's allegation, and NewsTweetNaija presents both sides as reported.
The Lagos State Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement, Adekunle Taofeek, has called for an independent investigation into Adelowo's arrest, detention, alleged torture and death. The group urged the Inspector-General of Police and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police to investigate the officers attached to the X-Squad and prosecute anyone found culpable.
What happens next
No independent investigation has been announced in the reports reviewed so far. Whether the police authorities order a probe, and what such a probe finds, will determine the next steps in a case that has again raised questions about detention without trial and the treatment of suspects in custody.
For now, a family is mourning a barber who walked out of detention on November 3 and was dead within about a day, and two conflicting accounts — the family's and the police's — are waiting for an independent test.
Credit: Punch Metro, via Chronicle NG and Orijo Reporter reports of November 9, 2026.
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