One of the most agonizing experiences of his life, according to veteran Nollywood actor Nkem Owoh, was his older brother Bartholomew Owoh’s death during the military rule of General Muhammadu Buhari at the time.
Recall that the Buhari military government killed three young Nigerians by firing squad on April 10, 1985, including Bartholomew.
The film star’s brother was put to death along with Lawal Ojuolape and Bernard Ogedengbe for drug-related offenses that, at the time of their commission, did not carry the death penalty.
During an interview on Thursday, April 10, 2025, on Arise Television’s “The Interview,” Nkem Owoh expressed his anger and tears at work over the tragic event.
The military regime’s retroactive application of a new decree to apply the death penalty to crimes committed prior to the decree’s implementation infuriated him.
At the time, he recalled, “I was working with Anambra Television, and I was so angry that I was crying along the corridors.”
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Actually, the fact that they had to change the decree’s effective date was what most affected me. They could issue a decree during the military era and it would be in effect the following minute.
Therefore, I was quite resentful of them for backdating it to include or implicate individuals who did not commit the crime during their own rule, but years before.
The actor went on to question the legal and moral justification for the decision to retroactively apply the law, which ultimately resulted in the deaths of his brother and other individuals. He said, “Why would it be shifted back to include people who didn’t commit the offence before the decree?”
