Former military chiefs have condemned the recent confrontation between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and a naval officer identified as A. Yerima over an alleged land dispute in Abuja, describing the incident as a violation of military protocol and a threat to institutional respect.
The clash, which occurred on Tuesday, involved the minister and a team of armed naval officers guarding a disputed plot of land reportedly linked to former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Zubairu Gambo (retd.).
The Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru, confirmed that his ministry has begun investigating the incident. Speaking at a press conference in Abuja to flag off activities for the 2026 Armed Forces Remembrance Day, Badaru commended the naval officer for maintaining calm during the altercation and assured that the ministry would protect personnel performing lawful duties.
“At the ministry, and indeed the Armed Forces, we will always protect our officers on lawful duty,” he said. “We are looking into this issue and assure that any officer performing his duties lawfully will be highly protected. We will not allow anything to happen to him so long as he is doing his job, and he is doing it very well.”
Wike had accused the former naval chief of illegally taking over the land, while the officer reportedly maintained his post under the directive of his superior. A video of the confrontation has since gone viral, drawing widespread criticism.
Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (retd.), described Wike’s actions as “a serious breach of discipline” and called for a public apology to President Bola Tinubu, the Armed Forces, and the officer involved.
Buratai, in a statement posted on Facebook, said, “The events of November 11, 2025, involving the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Barrister Nyesom Wike, demand an immediate and serious response. His public disparagement of a uniformed officer of the Nigerian Armed Forces transcends mere misconduct; it represents a palpable threat to national security and institutional integrity.”
He added, “A minister’s verbal assault on a military officer in uniform is an act of profound indiscipline that strikes at the core of our nation’s command and control structure. It deliberately undermines the chain of command, disrespects the authority of the Commander-in-Chief, and grievously wounds the morale of every individual who serves under the Nigerian flag.”
Also reacting, Brigadier General Peter Aro (retd.) said the episode reflected the need for adherence to due process and respect for the military hierarchy in a democracy.
“The clash between Minister Wike and the young naval officer goes beyond personalities; it reflects how power should and should not be exercised in a democracy. The officer, by every account, was acting under lawful orders from his superior, the former Chief of Naval Staff; his duty was to obey the chain of command, not to improvise under political pressure,” The PUNCH reports.
While acknowledging the minister’s right to question land ownership, Aro said the approach was wrong. “The minister had every right to raise questions about the land or its use, but only through lawful channels such as writing to the Minister of Defence, the Chief of Defence Staff, or approaching the courts. A public confrontation that diminishes institutional respect exposes the government’s internal disarray before the world.”
He warned that failing to condemn the minister’s conduct could “send a dangerous message to the men and women who risk their lives daily for Nigeria’s sovereignty,” adding that both the military and civilian authorities must act with discipline and restraint.
Similarly, retired Brigadier General Bashir Adewinbi described the altercation as “unacceptable,” insisting that it showed disregard for the Commander-in-Chief’s authority.
“I did not expect a minister to behave like that toward a commissioned officer. The military is not just any organisation; it is under the command of the President, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Any confrontation with a military officer is, by extension, a confrontation with the Commander-in-Chief and should not be tolerated,” he said.
However, the Wike’s aide, Lere Olayinka, defended his principal, insisting that the minister was acting to protect public property. Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, Olayinka said the dispute stemmed from a “land scam” involving private developers and a misled former naval chief.
“That particular land was allocated to a company in 2007, Santos Estate Limited, for park and recreation. The company did not do anything on the land because that place is a parkway, a walkway, a road corridor. You don’t build there,” he said.
Olayinka explained that the company later sought a change of use in 2022 from park to commercial, which the FCT administration rejected. “In 2022, the minister of FCT declined that request. Wike was not the minister then,” he clarified.
According to him, the company nonetheless subdivided and sold parts of the land to private individuals, including the former naval chief. “Probably in anticipation of the minister’s approval for conversion, the man decided to partition the land and sold it to people, including the former Chief of Naval Staff,” Olayinka explained.
He accused Gambo of trying to use “military influence” to retain the land. “That is why I want to say that the Chief of Naval Staff was scammed. He has realised that he was scammed. Instead of coming out to seek help, he resorted to using military might.”
Olayinka added that the property, located in the Mabushi district, was designated for public and corporate buildings, not residential use. “As of today, Vice Admiral Gambo does not have a document, a title document, showing that he owns the land. He does not own the land,” he said.
He further challenged the retired naval chief to provide an approved building plan.
“Assuming but not conceding that he owns the land, before you begin development, there are processes you must pass through. One of such processes is to have a building plan and take it to the development control. The question Nigerians should ask Vice Admiral Gambo is, did he take his building plan to the development control, and was it approved?”
