Nigeria court clears man who named his dog after the president

A court in Nigeria’s south-west Osun State has dismissed a case against a man who named his dog after President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to the judge, the police prosecution failed to substantiate charges they brought against 41-year-old Joachim Iroko, a market trader.

Iroko was arrested in 2016 with the reason being that his action was likely to breach peace as people were likely to protest against his decision to name an animal after the President.

His arrest at the time sparked anger with most people decrying the police’s abuse of constitutionally guaranteed freedoms.

The dog in question was killed in the midst of the police action, ostensibly poisoned by people who were angry at the action of its owner.

Buhari, who came to power in 2015, is currently on medical leave in the United Kingdom and is expected back in Abuja, soon as his doctors give the green light, the presidency had said.

Africa’s most populous nation has a simmering ethnic tension which in the recent past saw the declaration of a quit notice for southerners resident in the dominantly Muslim north. There is also a secessionist movement in the south by the Biafra group.