Joe Chinakwe Not Charged For Naming Dog ‘Buhari’—Police

By Dipo Olowookere

The Ogun State Police Command has debunked reports in the media that the arrest and the subsequent charging to court of a man who named his dog ‘Buhari’ was influenced by President Muhammadu Buhari.

In a statement issued on Monday by the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 2, Onikan, Lagos, Mr Abdulmajid Ali, the police stressed that the matter was purely between the “complainant and the suspect whose action was seen as one that is likely to cause breach of peace.”

According to the statement signed by the Zonal Police Relations Officer, SP Muyiwa Adejobi, the arrest of Joe Chinakwe, the man who named his dog Buhari, by the Ogun State Police command, was to forestall any breakdown of law and order.

He said in the statement that Alhaji Halilu Umar, who resides at Ketere Area, Sango Otta in Ado Odo Otta Local Government Area of Ogun State, went to the police in Sango to report the case to them.

Mr Adejobi explained further that efforts to settle the matter amicably proved futile, which left the police with no other option than to charge the suspect to court for peace to reign in the area.

“The Zonal command wants to clarify and set the records straight that the case as it was erroneously perceived, has nothing to do with the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, but with one Alhaji Buhari, the biological father of the complainant, Alhaji Halilu Umar, all of Ketere Area, Sango Otta in Ado Odo Otta Local Government Area of Ogun State. “Also, it’s fundamental to state that the man was not charged to court for christening his dog Buhari, but for the behaviours of the suspect and circumstances surrounding the matter when Mr Joe, who had been having conflicts with his neighbour, (complainant) named his dog Buhari, his neighbour’s father’s name, inscribed Buhari on both sides of the said dog and started parading the dog with swagger amongst his neighbours and traders, who are mostly northerners.

“The said Joe was actually attacked by people around for his action before he was rescued by the police. The timely intervention of the police prevented an inter-tribal crisis in the area.

“The Zonal Command, therefore, seeks the understanding of members of the public on the action of the man, which was capable of causing breach of public peace, an offense the man, Joe Chinakwe, was actually charged for under section 249(d) of the Criminal Code.”