More Than a Prison Story – A review of Babalola Disu’s How God Arrested Me

Title: How God Arrested Me: A True Story of Injustice, Faith and Redemption

Author: Babalola Disu

Year of Publication: 2026

Number of Pages: 142

Category: Memoir

Being wrongly arrested in Nigeria is one of the worst things that can happen to anyone. It is the kind of experience you would not even wish on your enemy. People disappear into the system, sometimes forgotten not out of neglect but because no one even knows where they are. Some never return.

This is what makes Babalola Disu’s How God Arrested Me such an unsettling read. From the very beginning, you feel the weight of his experience. Unlike many others, he was fortunate, his family and friends knew he had been taken. But what starts as a painful and frightening ordeal slowly unfolds into something deeper and unexpected.

The title already points you in a spiritual direction, but the story still manages to hold your attention. That said, the book might have felt even more personal if the author had put a face to the story perhaps his image or something more visual on the cover to draw readers in and create a stronger connection.

What stands out immediately is how real the book feels. If you are Nigerian, you won’t find anything here hard to believe. The harsh realities of the police and prison system are laid bare, and nothing feels exaggerated. Lines like “freedom is fragile” hit hard and stay with you long after you’ve read them.

Surprisingly, prison becomes a turning point for the author. Not because his conditions improved, but because he changed. He begins to confront his pride, his need for control, and the way he had been living his life. These moments of reflection give the book its depth and make it more than just a prison story. It becomes a story of personal transformation.

Themes of fear, hope, surrender, and faith run through the book. Disu comes to believe that his time in prison had a purpose. For some readers, especially those who are not religious, this idea may feel difficult to accept. It raises uncomfortable but important questions: why must something so painful happen for someone to find meaning or growth?

The writing has a poetic tone, which sometimes softens the harshness of the experience. But the honesty remains. One of the most striking things about the author is his empathy. He does not judge the people around him; instead, he understands them. This shift in perspective leads to something powerful, a desire to help others who find themselves in similar situations.

By the time you finish the book, it stays with you. You find yourself thinking about the author, about the many others like him, and about what can be done. It is not just a story. It is a reminder, a challenge, and, in some ways, a call to action.

About the reviewer
Titilade Oyemade is a business executive in a leading organisation and holds a degree in Russian Language. She’s the convener of the Hangoutwithtee Ladies Event and the Publisher of Hangoutwithtee magazine. She spends her weekends attending women conferences, events and book readings. She loves to have fun and to help other women have the same in their lives. Email: [email protected] Social: @tiipreeofficial