Court frees Nigerian man who named his dog after President Buhari

2017-07-26 15:25

Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari (File : AP)

Lagos – A Nigerian court has reportedly dismissed charges filed against a man in Ogun state, who named his dog 'Buhari'.

The man was freed after his case had dragged on for nearly a year on charges of "disturbing public peace".  

According to Vanguard, a magistrate's court found that the prosecution had failed to substantiate the charges against Joachim Iroko.

Iroko was reportedly arrested in August 2016 for allegedly causing breach of peace after his neighbour Haliru Umar accused him of harbouring sinister motives and insensitivity when he named his dog after President Muhammadu Buhari.

'I name my dogs after my heroes'

His arrest allegedly sparked national outrage, with critics accusing Nigerian police of stifling constitutionally guaranteed freedom.

Presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu, however, said at the time that the president did not pay any attention to the case but rather "paid more attention to cartoon pages in the newspapers".

According to BBC, police said that Iroko, a market trader, walked his dog that had been painted Buhari on both sides – in an area where the support for the president was high.

The officers at the time reportedly believed that his action could possible "antagonise people".

In his defence Iroko said that he named his dogs after his heroes and had other dogs that were named after late President Nelson Mandela and President Barack Obama.

"I named my beloved pet dog Buhari, who is my hero....My admiration for Buhari started far back when he was a military head of state," Iroko was quoted as saying.

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