Ex-Lagos civil servant found dead in UK home

A 62-year-old Nigerian-British citizen, Prince Adeoba Adeniji-Adele, has been found dead at his residence in London, United Kingdom.

Adeniji-Adele, a former Lagos State Government public servant, relocated to the UK in 2024 after retiring from service, having worked as an information officer in several government agencies.

He reportedly secured a job as a support officer with Bushey Meadows Supported Living shortly after relocating to the UK.

However, his lifeless body was discovered last Monday at his apartment, Flat 6, 2A, Bruce Road, Barnet, London, after his colleagues requested a welfare check when they were unable to reach him.

British authorities have reportedly commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.

Adeniji-Adele reportedly lived in the UK before moving to Nigeria in 2012, where he worked as an information officer with the Lagos State Office of the Public Defender. He was later transferred to Gbagada General Hospital, where he eventually retired and then relocated back to the UK in 2024.

Friends of the deceased said he secured British passports for his children after returning to the UK and was making arrangements to bring his wife and children over when he died.

In a tribute shared on Facebook, his widow, Kehinde, described him as a devoted husband who always prioritised the wellbeing of his family.

“Ademi, Okomi, Ololufe mi, I am writing this with a deep pain my heart. Thank you for being that husband that will give his last fight to make sure all goes well in the family, even though I misunderstood you then, now I understand better,” she wrote.

Speaking about the circumstances surrounding his death, Kehinde said she last spoke with her husband a day before the incident. She explained that they chatted for some time before he told her he was exhausted and wanted to sleep.

She said she promised to call him the following day, but her attempts to reach him on Monday were unsuccessful.

“He said he wanted to sleep. I said he shouldn’t worry that I would call him the following day. But when I called him the following day, which was Monday, he didn’t pick up. So, I assumed he hadn’t woken up or maybe he just wanted to take a nap.

Around 3.15pm, I called him and someone picked but I heard a scream. Then, a white man answered the phone and asked me questions.

The man asked for my husband’s name and I said it. He asked who I was, and I said I’m his wife. He asked me to call my number and I did. He then said I was truly his wife.

He then announced the death of my husband to me on the phone. He explained what happened and how he was not seen in the office, before a welfare check was sent to his residence,” she said