Baba Suwe never recovered after NDLEA ordeal, says son

Adebowale Omidina, a son to Baba Suwe, the late comic actor, says his father never recovered from his ordeal with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) until his death. 

In 2011, the agency had arrested the actor at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos over suspicion that he was trafficking drugs and detained him for three weeks.

He was eventually granted bail after no drugs were found on him while the Lagos high court ordered the NDLEA to pay the actor the sum of N25 million as compensation.

But the veteran actor, who alleged that he was tortured while in the NDLEA’s custody, claimed that he did not receive the compensation.

Addressing journalists at the Ikorodu home of the late actor on Tuesday, Adebowale said Baba Suwe’s illness started after the drug allegation against him.

“My father was a lovely person. Whenever I showed him his videos, he would start laughing and sometimes burst into tears and ask if it was him and if he would ever act again and I would console and assure him that he would act again, just to make him happy,” he said.

“I can’t really say this was the cause of my father’s sickness, but since his matter with the NDLEA, my dad was not himself; he used to think about his wife and he used to think about us too because he still told me a few days ago that he was not sure if he would be with us for long and I told him that he would be with us.”

On the actor’s last moments, Adebowale disclosed that he was in the gym on Monday when he received a call that his father was not breathing well.

“I asked them to call a nurse to treat him and when I got home, I went to his room, talked to him; he was trying to talk to me, but he could not,” he said.

“He was taking his first drip when I got home and when he was taking the second drip, I went out to wash my kits. I was washing my kits when my mum came to tell me that my dad was dead.

“I had to ask her if she was joking because I just left him about five minutes ago; I rushed to his room and found out that he was dead.”

Baba Suwe died on Monday after a long battle with an undisclosed illness.

TheCable Lifestyle had earlier examined the life and times of the veteran actor.