Police in Ogun State has arrested a 30-year-old trader for naming his pet dog ‘Buhari.’ Joe Fortemose Chinakwe, the trader, of No 10, Omikunle Street, Sango-Ota, Ogun State, was reportedly arrested last weekend, after one of his neighbours of Northern extraction complained bitterly while alleging that he named his dog after his father, Alhaji Buhari.


It was learned that the complainant reported the case at Sango Police Station, last Saturday, after which the trader was arrested and detained.

However, reports have it 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, who is 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. According to reports, consistent appeals by his friends and relations for the police to grant him bail has failed as the complainant and his kinsmen reportedly threatened to kill the trader if he was released on 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.

Chiedozie, a relation to the suspect, 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.

According to Chiedozie, “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.”

A Police source, 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.”