Once a shining star in Nollywood, Babatunde Omidina, popularly known as Baba Suwe, has been reduced to begging for assistance to stay alive.
In a cruel reversal of fortunes, the 60-year-old who entertained millions of fans as the goofy security guard in Nollywood movies is a victim of the incompetence of a government security agency.
Below, we trace his fall from grace to grass in five points.
1 Arrest by NDLEA
Baba Suwe was arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport on October 12,
2 Enter Bamidele Aturu
Worried about the abuse Baba Suwe was subjected to, popular human right lawyer, Bamidele Aturu, took up his case pro bono after the actor had sworn to him that he did not ingest any drug. Aturu subsequently filed a suit against the NDLEA at a Lagos High Court, demanding the actor’s release and compensation for the ordeal he had been put through.
3 Release from custody
After three weeks of drug-free stooling, Justice Yetunde Idowu of the Lagos High Court on November 1, 2011 ordered that Baba Suwe should be released November 4, 2011. Aturu subsequently filed a defamation suit against the NDLEA, saying “Their (NDLEA) officials had better start looking for new jobs.”
4 Reputational damage and financial loss
Following his release from custody, Baba Suwe became an outcast among fellow actors. The NDLEA refused to pay the N25million compensation ordered by the court and the case was all but forgotten after Aturu died in 2014 at the age of 49. Movie roles stopped coming Baba Suwe’s way, with some colleagues even suggesting that he somehow managed to get rid of the drugs in his system through supernatural means. The actor’s dwindling financial fortunes led to the sale of some of his assets, including a shopping centre in the Elepe area of Ikorodu.
5 Health scare
Nollywood actor, Yomi Fabiyi, raised an alarm in 2016 that Baba Suwe’s health was in a terrible state and appealed to the public for urgent support. The ailing actor, however, denied that his health was failing even when Qed.ng reported that he almost slumped at a FirstBank branch located in Omitoro, Ikorodu. Three years after that denial, he has now been forced to admit that he is suffering from a debilitating illness. Speaking in a recent interview posted on social media, Baba Suwe called on the government of Nigeria, his fans and the general public not to let him die. His colleagues have also reached out to the public to send money to his First Bank account with the number 2003537811.
