Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru, has assured that the Federal Government and military leadership will protect soldiers engaged in lawful duties, following Tuesday’s confrontation between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and a military officer reportedly acting on the orders of a former Chief of Naval Staff.
Badaru made the statement yesterday in Abuja during a ministerial briefing ahead of the 2026 Armed Forces Remembrance Day.
Videos of the incident, which surfaced online, showed Wike in a heated exchange with the officer, identified as A.M. Yerima, at a disputed site in Abuja.
The encounter has since sparked widespread debate about the boundaries between civil authority and military conduct in democratic governance.
Reacting, constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Prof. Sebastine Hon, faulted the military officer’s behaviour, describing it as “a clear affront to civil authority.”
He argued that obedience to superior orders does not cover “palpably illegal or manifestly unjust” directives, citing Supreme Court decisions that hold officers personally liable when they act under unlawful instructions.
Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, also weighed in, saying the confrontation reflected Nigeria’s deepening institutional decay and erosion of discipline. According to him, what should have been a simple civic exchange has become a “national spectacle,” underscoring the breakdown of due process and the misuse of public power.
However, the Senior Special Assistant on Publicity to the FCT Minister, Lere Olayinka, defended Wike, claiming the dispute stemmed from a fraudulent land transaction that duped former naval chief, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo (rtd).
He alleged that Gambo was misled into buying land meant for public recreation, not private ownership.
Olayinka explained that the plot, originally allotted in 2007 to Santos Estate Limited for park and recreation, was part of a road corridor where development was prohibited.
“That place is a parkway, a walkway. You don’t build there,” he said, insisting Wike acted within his powers to protect Abuja’s master plan.