Femi Falana, one of Nigeria's foremost rights lawyer has spoken against
the prosecution of Joachim Chinakwe, a Nigerian who named his dog
“Buhari”.
PREMIUM TIMES reports that Falana said that Chinakwe's ordeal had no
place in the Nigerian statute, adding that labelling his dog with his
desired name was in exercise of his fundamental rights to free speech
which should not be curtailed by the Nigerian state.
''I am going to request the attorney-general of Ogun State to
discontinue the frivolous charge. It is against Section 36(9) of the
Constitution to charge a man for a criminal offence that is unknown to
law,” Mr. Falana said.
“It is also illegal to use the machinery of government to harass any
citizen. If the president is aggrieved by the naming of dog after him,
he is at liberty to sue for libel. But the police cannot invoke criminal
proceeding to intimidate the fellow.”
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