Drug cops log Nigerian star's 24 bowel movements

Nigerian authorities have been forced to release an actor they suspected of drug smuggling after he produced no less than 24 narco-free bowel movements.

Babatunde Omidina, better known in Nollywood circles as Baba Suwe, was nabbed at Lagos airport last month by officers from Nigeria's National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.

Officers pulled in the comedian, who was en route to Paris, on suspicion of drug trafficking after a body scan suggested he had ingested a quantity of contraband.

The drugs authorities decided to let the law, and nature, take its course, spending the next three weeks minutely examining Omidina's bowel movements for evidence of the contraband.

However, after Omidina turned over no less than 24 drug-free discharges, there were rumblings on unease in Nigeria's halls of justice.

In a final effort to unearth the alleged contraband, Omadina was last week subjected to 12 hours of "tests" at a Lagos hospital, apparently without his consent.

“All his systems were flushed, other than his lungs and intestines, but nothing was found,” his lawyer told a court hearing last week, The National reports.

Picking up the story himself, an apparently visibly tired Omadina told the judge, "When we got there, they inserted something in my mouth and pumped water inside. Another thing was inserted in my anus and water was also pumped inside. I then began to stool. I visited the toilet six times that day. Since then, I have been visiting the toilet frequently.”

The authorities said they wanted to keep Omadina in custody so they could continue monitoring him ahead of the 11 November hearing.

However, the judge was having none of it, telling the court "I don't feel comfortable about that," and granting the no doubt equally uncomfortable actor bail.

Meanwhile, the actor's lawyers said they plan to sue the agency for "billions" of naira. ®