THE BLOOD OF THE "THREE O BROTHERS:"
BARTHOLOMEW OWOH, BERNARD
OGEDENGBE, & LAWAL OJUOLAPE BEKONS ON BUHARI.

Thirty years ago, they faced the cruel and ignominious fate of being tied to the stake and a hail of bullets from marksmen ended their precious lives. Those people were Bartholomew Owoh (26), Bernard Ogedengbe (29) and Lawal
Ojuolape (30).

They were executed by firing squad after being
arrested and tried for drug trafficking. The case
of Bartholomew Owoh, the youngest of them
all, was particularly tragic. At the time of his arrest, the crime did not carry capital forfeiture -the punishment was six months imprisonment. But Decree No. 20 was hurriedly promulgated and back-dated by one whole year to take effect from when he and others committed the crime and on the basis of that they were all tried, found guilty and executed by firing squad.

Someone recently asked me if this actually
happened and I said, “read the records
of history against Buhari’s name”. The man responsible for that “judicial murder and crime against humanity” is today the APC presidential candidate, general Muhammadu Buhari, who has shown no remorse, no regret and has tendered no apology for his actions.

Furthermore, he has sought no remission or
restitution for that act of pure evil. He is the
same man being daily burnished in the media
by revisionists as the new face of “change.”
I sometimes wonder how he has been able to
sleep, eat and wake up every morning for the
past 30 years knowing that his hands are
stained with the blood of these young men.

Before the promulgation of Decree 20, drug
offences were bailable and it is instructive that
Bartholomew Owoh was even on bail when it
was promulgated. My personal investigation
reveals that immediately the decree was
promulgated, the young man expressed his
desire to escape from the country. But his
father prevailed on him to stay back, promising
that he would protect him from the grave
injustice. The young Owoh heeded his father’s
advice and stayed. But his father clearly
underestimated the deadly resolve of General
Buhari to implement the new decree against his
son and others. I can imagine the horror the
poor father must have felt on hearing that
soldiers had marched his son to the Bar Beach
firing range to be executed.

I can imagine the last few moments of
Bartholomew’s earthly life as he watched
soldiers march around in a choreographic and
synchronized parade to carry out the orders of
General Buhari. What was going on in his
mind? Did he have the moment to say goodbye
to his family? Definitely no. He must have been
too shocked by what was about to happen.

What were the last word(s) he heard on this
earth before the hail of bullets hit and silenced
him forever? Have any of Buhari supporters
bothered to ask or imagine? Have any of them
put himself on the receiving end of such grave
injustice? I guess the last word OWOH heard was: “fire”! And the last sound? The crack of gun shots as hot lead pierced through his body ripping him apart. He probably twitched for a few seconds and his precious life ended just like that. Where and how were he and others buried? In an unmarked grave perhaps!

Expectedly, their families were denied the
privilege of paying last respect to their loved
ones. If Bartholomew Owoh, the youngest of
the three were still alive today, he would have
been (56) - about the same age as Buhari’s
running-mate, Yemi Osinbajo. He would have
been married with children; somebody would
have called him father; somebody would have
called him uncle. But he died in his prime, as
his life was brutally cut short by no less a
brutal regime with the red hand of murder.

What is a life worth to those who casually say
Buhari has changed when the evidence points
to the contrary? What is the value for human
life to the revisionists and those uninformed
bloggers who spread fantasies of Buhari’s
daughter who is alleged married to an Ibo
Christian man all in a bid to sell him?
I can imagine the eternal guilt Owoh’s father
must have felt and probably still feels, that’s if
he is still alive for prevailing on his son not
to escape.

The irony here is that Bartholomew Owoh and
his co- travellers were no saints; just as Buhari
who ordered their execution is no saint. But the
difference is that while the supporters of Buhari
tell us that he has changed and are willing to
forgive and give him a second chance, the
same Buhari never gave Bartholomew and his
co-travellers the opportunity for a second
chance - to change and be good citizens of the
society. Each time my mind drifts to this
monumental injustice, I still freeze in shock and
a cold chill runs through my body. How could
this have happened in our country? But I am a
witness to this part of our history.

I doubt if many Sai Buhari! crusaders feel the
same way. But I know for sure that they won’t
be so supportive of Buhari if their relatives
were among the three Nigerians executed by a back- dated law. Can anyone of his supporters out there stand up and be counted on this score? Needless to say that many of them were too young to appreciate the gravity of the injustice while many others were not even born then. So, they can be excused for not being witnesses of records but they can’t be excused for refusing to use the lessons of history as guides to the future.

The frenzied campaign to dress Buhari in
borrowed robes and foist him on Nigerians
must be interrogated without let. Buahari’s
critics must never allow themselves to be
intimidated into silence by those who attack
them for daring to interrogate the past, present
and acts recorded against the general.

Moreso, as the Sai Buharis have the right to air their opinion and support for the general without molestation. It is the fairest minimum for a healthy debate. It is in this regard that I take exception to Buhari’s supporters who
would rather re-write history and shout critics
down for daring to air contrary views from the
make-belief narrative being used to dupe a new
generation of Nigerians, especially bloggers,
facebook and twitter savvy youths.

Whatever the case, facts remain sacred,

comments are free but the records of history
endure.

Where is your evidence? I am looking for hard evidence of the exact dates the drug related crimes were committed, what amount and what type of drugs were involved, the sentences that were in the law at the time the crimes were committed, the date decree 20 was made, the date decree 20 was backdated to, evidence that Buhari was made aware of the principle of non-retroactivity(and that it was a generally and internationally accepted legal principle) and that he ignored this and went ahead with the executions anyway, also the date and place of the executions (and any evidence that may help to further certify them), where the bodies were buried, who was in the firing squad.
This is urgent. If most of the above can be provided then there's a strong possibility Buhari can be prosecuted for murder immediately. There is no statute of limitations on murder and the constitution does not give the Nigerian president immunity from criminal prosecution (only from civil litigation).

Op, this should be in politics forum not culture