One of the most successful Nigerian comedians, Nkem Owoh says he’s still distressed over the killing of his brother Bartholomew Owoh by General Muhammad Buhari.
The comedian recounted how his brother was executed among some other three young Nigerians by General Buhari for an offence that allegedly did not carry the death penalty.
The three young Nigerians executed were Bernard Ogedengbe 29, Bartholomew Owoh 26, and Lawal Ojoulape 30.
The trio was publicly executed by General Buhari when he was Nigeria’s military head of state.
The actor spoke in an interview with “Breaking Times” and disclosed that the family has still NOT recovered from the trauma of the cold-blooded killing of the three young men especially the relative Bartholomew.
Every time Nkem Owoh sees Buhari on TV, he weeps bitterly over his brother AND can’t even believe that Buhari has the nerve to seek re-election as President.
Bartholomew Owoh and others were allegedly arrested for peddling cocaine and convicted for that crime.
THE EXECUTION: 1985 (UPI ARCHIVES).
“Three Nigerian men convicted of illegal possession of cocaine and heroin were publicly executed Wednesday by a military firing squad.
Several thousand people watched the execution outside the Kirikiri maximum security prison.
Police and soldiers had trouble controlling the crowd, drawn by radio and television publicity. Lagos state radio said a number of people fainted when the six-man execution squad fired.
Bartholomew Azubike Owoh, 26, a former employee of the Nigeria Airways, Lawal Akanni Ojuolape, 30, a spare parts dealer, and Bernard Ogedengbe, 29, a sailor, were condemned separately by a military tribunal last December.
Owoh smiled broadly, waved to reporters and prayed in front of the execution stake before he was tied to it, witnesses said.
‘If I knew peddling in hard drugs would result in death I would not have done it,’ he said.
Ojuolape, convicted of possessing more than 2 pounds of cocaine, also prayed before being tied to the stake.
‘I am eating the fruit of my misdeed. … It was my first time out on the cocaine business but I was caught,’ he said.
The executions took 5 minutes to complete. The victims were loaded into rough coffins for burial at Atan cemetery in Lagos.
The three men were the first Nigerians executed under Decree 20 – which makes drug possession and trafficking and illegal dealings in oil punishable by death.
The decree is the result of a crackdown on crime and corruption by the government of Maj. Gen. Mohammed Buhari, which seized power in a coup Dec. 31, 1983. The Buhari government has declared ‘war against indiscipline”.
