Nkem Owoh, a seasoned Nollywood actor, has called his older brother Bartholomew Owoh’s execution under General Muhammadu Buhari’s military rule one of the most agonizing experiences of his life.
Recall that on April 10, 1985, the Buhari military government killed three young Nigerians by firing squad, including Bartholomew.
Along with Lawal Ojuolape and Bernard Ogedengbe, the movie star’s brother was put to death for drug-related offenses that, at the time of their commission, did not carry the death penalty.
Nkem Owoh expressed his anger and tears at work over the terrible event in an interview on Arise Television’s “The Interview,” which aired Thursday, April 10, 2025.
He voiced his resentment that the military government had implemented a new decree retroactively to punish crimes committed before to the decree’s implementation with the death penalty.
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“I was working with Anambra Television at the time, and I was so angry that I was crying along the corridors,” he claimed.
The fact that they had to change the decree’s effective date actually moved me the most. During the military era, they could issue an edict and it would be in effect the following minute.
“I was extremely resentful of them for backdating it to include or involve individuals who did not commit the offense during their own regime, but years ago.”
“Why would it be shifted back to include people who didn’t commit the offence before the decree?” the actor said, raising ethical and legal concerns about the decision to backdate the statute, which ultimately resulted in the deaths of his brother and others.
