A Nigerian nightclub owner is in custody and has sparked widespread outrage for repeatedly appearing in public leading two women by a dog leash. Buzz Nigeria reports that Mike Nwogu, popularly known as “Pretty Mike,” has incurred the wrath of many Nigerians for turning up at events with an entourage of young ladies led before him on a dog leash.
The 30-year-old co-owner of Club Uno, an upscale night club in Lagos, first caused a stir on social media late last year when he attended an event with two girls on a dog leash. The girls were wearing elaborate costumes, which included party masks.
The pictures soon surfaced online and Nigerians were not immediately sure what to make of it. Was it another publicity stunt to get the media into overdrive?
However, Pretty Mike, in an apparent disregard for moral decorum, has staged even more daring public appearances with the girls led from a leash in 2017.
Photo Credit: nairaland
Popular Nigerian entertainment blogger Linda Ikeji was one of the first people to slam Pretty Mike. In n a blog post, she wrote, “This man pays these girls peanuts just so he can put them on a leash and walk the around like a dog when he goes to events. Silly little man!”
She was followed in tow by a number of local celebrities, including Nollywood actress Georgina Onuoha who took to her social media page to lament.
“When did our society become numb to everything morally wrong and inexcusable? When did we as a nation and people descend to this level?
If there were to be a White man today on the streets of Lagos tying two Black girls or boys to a leash, I bet we [would] all cry foul and call for his execution, so why do we think this is ok? Because he is a Black man?”
The Nigerian social media community took it up from there, with users weighing in on the issue on Twitter and Facebook. Outraged commenters likened Pretty Mike to a beast as “only an animal would do that to a human being.”
Opinions were however split on the legality of Pretty Mike’s actions, with some arguing that since the the ladies involved were consenting adults, there was little to hold against him. Others choose to pillory the girls he led by the leash for giving up their personal dignity in exchange for money.
Chidi Okereke wrote on Twitter that “what Pretty Mike is doing may not be illegal, but it is disgusting on so many levels and anyone with a sense of decency would condemn it.”
“Pretty mike drags women around with chains and dehumanizes them. Therefore, we shall refer to them as dogs and dehumanize them too” ??
— Sharon ??♀️?? (@Sharon_Rins) January 13, 2017
Lmaoooo I’m crying at this Pretty Mike interview.. “The first thing I ask her (before I put the chain on her) is “sweetheart are you ok?”
— Mazi Ö (@chukkietweets) January 13, 2017
Nigerian authorities have since arrested Pretty Mike and charged him with committing an offense against morality.
A statement released by the Lagos State Ministry of Justice on Wednesday explained that Pretty Mike was arrested “for dehumanizing young girls by turning them into human puppies with chains around their necks.”
