Trader arrested for naming pet dog Buhari

Sango-ota —A 30-year-old trader has been
arrested by the police in Ogun state for
naming his pet dog 'Buhari.'
The trader, Joe Fortemose Chinakwe, of No
10, Omikunle Street, Sango-Ota, Ogun State,
was reportedly arrested last weekend, after
one of his neighbours of Northern extraction
complained bitterly that he named his dog
after his father, Alhaji Buhari.
Vanguard learned that the complainant
reported the case at Sango Police Station,
last Saturday, after which the trader was
arrested and detained.
However, it was gathered that efforts by the
police to recover the dog, which they
intended using as evidence failed following a
clever move by the suspect.
The trader, said to be trading in female
wears at a popular market in Sango,
allegedly directed his friends secretly to kill
the dog and possibly eat the meat in order
to avoid being implicated. It was gathered
that consistent appeals by his friends and
relations for the police to grant him bail
failed as the complainant and his kinsmen
reportedly threatened to kill the trader if he
was released on bail.
Trader denied bail
The case, however, took a different
dimension two days later when Chinakwe’s
relatives went to Sango police station to
further plead for his bail only to be informed
that the case file and the suspect have
been transferred to Ogun State Police
Command headquarters at Eleweran.
A relation to the suspect, who simply
identified himself as Chiedozie, told
Vanguard that his brother was being
persecuted for no just cause and expressed
fears that he may either be poisoned inside
police cell or thrown into jail.
Chiedozie said: “Chinakwe is a lover of dogs
and he names them after things that tickle
him. He bought this dog a year ago and
named it Buhari. Unfortunately, some
Northerners, who dominate the vicinity
where he resides misconstrued his intention
and connived to take him up. The
complainant then claimed it was derogatory
because his father answers Buhari.”
Police sources, however, told Vanguard that
the actions of the suspect “were very
provocative.”
The source said: “he not only named the
dog Buhari but boldly wrote it on the body
of both sides of the dog and was seen
parading the neighbourhood dominated by
Northerners with it.”
As at press time, relations to the suspect
were still making frantic efforts to effect his
bail while his accusers are insisting that he
must be prosecuted.
Police confirms arrest
When contacted around 8pm yesterday, the
acting Police spokesman in Ogun State,
Abimbola Oyeyemi, ASP, said he was still
trying to get the Divisional Police Officer in-
charge of Sango for details.
Oyeyemi later called, stating that: “I have
made enquiries. The man bought a dog and
inscribed Buhari on both sides of its body.
One Mallam lodged a complaint and when
our men got there, we found out that it was
true. You know such thing can cause
serious breach of the peace and ethnic or
religious unrest. We are charging him to
court for conduct likely to cause a breach of
peace.”
Continuing, he said: “He was arrested last
Saturday and we are taking him to court
later today (Tuesday) or tomorrow morning
(today). You know an average Northerner
will feel bad over such a thing. It can cause
serious ethnic crisis or religious
confrontation because when you are
relegating such a name to a certain person,
you are indirectly insulting him.”
When asked about the whereabouts of the
dog that will be used as evidence against
the suspect, the police spokesman said:
“The dog cannot follow anybody except the
owner. We will use him as our evidence
because he did not deny it.”by chibaby naija1