Bartholomew Owoh, Bernard Ogedengbe, and Lawal Ojuolape were executed by firing squad on April 10, 1985, at the Kirikiri shooting range in Lagos for possessing drugs. General Muhammadu Buhari issued the directive in accordance with Islamic law in Saudi Arabia. Popular Nigerian actor Nkem Owoh (Osuofia) had a brother named Barth Owoh.
Between April and May of 1984, 26-year-old Barth Owoh, 29-year-old Bernard Ogedengbe, and 30-year-old Lawal Ojuolape were all arrested for drug trafficking. At that time, the offense was not punishable by death but rather by bail. As if the WAI law imposed on Nigerians wasn’t enough, the Buhari dictatorship retroactively ordered the execution of three of them at all costs.
In an interview with Arise TV a few years ago, Owoh’s brother stated: “It just so happens that three of them were from the South.”
General Muhammadu Buhari, who had just taken power following a successful coup, ordered their deaths for a crime that at the time did not carry the death penalty. As you may remember, Buhari issued an order imposing the death penalty on anyone found guilty of narcotics trafficking while he was the military’s head of state. However, the crime was perpetrated by Barth, Ben, and Lawal prior to Buhari taking office.
The death sentence was not mandated under Nigerian law at the time the crime was committed. Buhari insisted that the young men be put to death when he came to power, and the firing squad carried out his orders in public. It was noted that the “big men” in charge owned the drugs they were found in possession of. Barth Owoh’s final words were, “This is my first time, and I was led into it by my friend.” The same clothing they were wearing at the time of their capture was still on them when they were put to death.
