The Tragic Execution of Barth Owoh, Bernard Ogedengbe, and Lawal Ojuolape: A Dark Chapter in Nigeria’s History

On April 10, 1985, three young men—Bartholomew Owoh, 26, Bernard Ogedengbe, 29, and Lawal Ojuolape, 30—were executed by firing squad at the Kirikiri shooting range in Lagos. Their crime? Drug possession. However, their trial and execution remain one of the most controversial moments in Nigeria’s history, highlighting the excesses of the military regime under General Muhammadu Buhari.

The trio had been arrested between April and May 1984, a time when drug trafficking was considered a bailable offense, and the law did not prescribe capital punishment. But after General Buhari seized power in a coup, his government promulgated a retroactive decree mandating the death penalty for drug-related offenses. This decree was used to justify the execution of Owoh, Ogedengbe, and Ojuolape.

Owoh’s brother, famed actor Nkem Owoh, once recounted in an interview how the young men were deliberately targeted. He noted, “Coincidentally, all three were southerners. They were executed for a crime that did not carry the death penalty at the time it was committed.”

Reports suggest that the drugs found on the men may have belonged to influential individuals, raising further questions about the fairness of their prosecution. Despite appeals and public outcry, the military government proceeded with the execution. The young men were killed wearing the same clothes they had on when arrested, and Owoh’s haunting last words—”This is my first time, and I was led into it by my friend”—echo the tragedy of their fate.

The public executions remain a grim reminder of the extreme measures taken during Buhari’s War Against Indiscipline (WAI), and they continue to spark debates about justice, human rights, and the abuse of power in Nigeria’s history.