ON April 10, 1985, history was made, that was the day three Cocaine Pushers were executed by the military regime headed by General Muhammadu Buhari despite public outcry for the administration to rescind their decision.
The global plea was hinged on the fact the accused had committed the offence before the Decree (20) was enacted, yet Buhari turned a deaf ear until they were executed by firing squad.
The three Nigerian men were convicted of illegal possession of cocaine and heroin were tied to the stakes and publicly executed by a military firing squad outside the Kirikiri Prison.
They were the first Nigerians executed under Decree 20 of the military regime that launched a crackdown on crime and corruption after it seized power in a coup on December 31, 1983.
The decree makes drug handling and oil bunkering punishable by death.
Bartholomew Azubike Owoh, 26, a former employee of Nigeria Airways, Lawal Akanni Ojuolape, 30, a spare parts dealer, and Bernard Ogedengbe, a 29-year-old sailor, were condemned separately by a Military Tribunal in December 1984 and the sentences were confirmed by the government.
A woman, Gladys Iyama, 34, was sentenced to death for possessing 15.3 grams of cocaine but the government did not give its final decision although it has said women convicts would be treated the same as men.
Witnesses at the execution outside the maximum security Kirikiri Prison in a Lagos suburb said the condemned men were tied to a stake and shot to death by a firing squad from the Nigerian Army’s 9th Mechanized Brigade.
The executions started at 8:30 a.m. and were over five minutes later when the bodies were loaded into rough coffins and driven away. It was not clear if the authorities surrendered the bodies to their families for burial.
Nigerian reporters said they were allowed to talk to the condemned men shortly before the execution but said only Ojuolape, who has four children, and was convicted of possessing 1.238 kilograms of cocaine, expressed remorse.
Ogedengbe, caught with 207 grams of heroin in a detergent packet on arrival at Lagos airport from India, claimed,
Owoh, who was caught with heroin on his return from Brazil, protested that he committed the offense before the military made drug handling a capital offense and had been given provisional liberty by the Police.
Bernard Ogedengbe (age 29), Bartholomew Owoh (age 26) and Lawal Ojuolape (age 30) tied to the stake before their execution by Maj-Gen Buhari’s administration.
The execution of these young men met with controversy because their drug related offences occurred before the Buhari administration came to power.
Maj-Gen Buhari backdated Decree 20 which stipulated the death penalty for drug related offences and the trio were unable to escape the executioners’ bullets.
