"My Father Never Recovered From NDLEA Ordeal" - Late Baba Suwe’s Son

Adebowale, the son of a late comic actor, Babatunde Omidina, aka Baba Suwe, on Tuesday, said his father did not recover from what he suffered in the hands of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency after he was accused of peddling drugs in 2011, which turned out to be false.

The actor died on Monday at his house in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State after battling a sickness. He was aged 63.

Adebowale, in a viral video on Monday, accused family members and friends of neglecting the veteran actor while he battled the illness.

However, while speaking at the residence on Tuesday, he apologized for making the video, saying he did not mean to disrespect anyone.

Speaking on his father’s sickness, Adebowale said the illness started after the NDLEA ordeal.

He said, “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.

“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.”

Narrating Baba Suwe’s last moments, Adebowale said he was in the gym on Monday when he was called 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 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.

“I was in shock and had to make a short video and because of the shock, I didn’t know what I was doing at that moment, so I posted it on my WhatsApp status and from there it went viral.

“I was surprised that within five minutes, the video had gone viral. What I have to say is that I’m sorry; I appeal to family members that I never meant it that way because I’m still young, but the shock affected me.”

The Governor of the Lagos State chapter of the Theatre Arts and Motion Picture Practitioners’ Association of Nigeria, Olufunmilayo Oyewunmi, while also speaking at the residence of the deceased on Tuesday, described him as a hero.

The Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in a statement, described Baba Suwe as a man who used his gift to advance the course of mankind.

He noted that his death had left a vacuum in the entertainment industry.

Meanwhile, another son of the deceased, Adesola Omidina, has stated that the actor will be buried on Thursday at his house in Ikorodu, Lagos State.