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The Altercation Between Officer Yerima And The FCT Minister Wike: Nigerians Express Divergent Views

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8 months ago

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By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

Yesterday afternoon, at about 3pm, a Naval officer with the name A. M Yerima was involved in a face-off with the serving minister of the federal capital territory, Nyesome Wike, over land issue.

The altercation led to Wike addressing the officer as a ‘fool’ severally despite Yerima being polite in his responses. With all the verbal abuses to the officer of the law from the minister, the viral video showed that the Yerima stood his ground and refused to allow Wike assess the land; while letting him know that he was acting based on an order from his superior.

With a roudy scene as shown in the video, Wike later put a call directly to the Chief of Defense Staff, Oluyede Olufemi, who, according to the video, was believed to had made him leave the scene.

What is Really The Story Behind The Altercation?

According to a video made by a practicing human rights lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, the said piece of land located at Gaduwa, in Abuja, belongs to a Chief Naval Officer. He acquired the land for his wife and started developing on it already when Wike’s men came threatening the builders to leave or they would be dealt with mercilessly. The development was reported to the Chief Naval Officer, and he ordered his boys to go to the location and make sure they were not harmed in any form.

Wike’s men having known that military officers had arrived, positioning themselves strategically on the piece of land, went to inform their superior who came and started verbal abuses.

Who Is Wrong?

With that exchange between the young, polite, and vibrant officer Yerima and Wike, some people are of the opinion that the officer was wrong to have come to the scene, as it’s not right for a military personnel to meddle in civilian cases like land dispute; citing the Land Acts section of law that prohibits such.

Conversely, others insist the officer wasn’t wrong, that it’s Wike–for addressing an officer of the law as a fool; noting that the said piece of land belongs to a 3–star General who acquired it for his wife. They further argued that Wike should have immediately reach out to the said 3–star General to find out the legality of his acquisition of the land instead of involving himself in an exchange with the officer to the extent he had to abuse in order to make a point.

What Does The Law Say?

According to another practicing lawyer, Osita Chidoka–the founder of Athena Centre For Policy And Leadership, he made two points known in his piece which he entitled: “Minister Wike: Power, Process, And The Rule of Law”:

One of the points was that the FCT Minister was wrong to have abused the officer verbally:

“Any law enforcement officer, in uniform or plain clothes, represents the President and the sovereignty of the Nigerian state. To abuse such an officer is to diminish the authority of the Republic itself,” he posted.

The second point was the process that Wike took the matter through. Osita explained that he would have taken the matter through the appropriate channels instead of trying to enforce an order himself while making verbal abuses.

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“Executive authority must be exercised or adjudicated through the courts, ministries, and lawful instruments of state, never through confrontation. No matter how justified a grievance, a minister cannot become an enforcer; that violates the very idea of ordered government.

In a democracy, ministers act through process, not presence. A formal communication to the Minister of Defence, whose office oversees the Armed Forces, would have sufficed. If the officers were on illegal duty, the established disciplinary systems would have addressed it.”

Chidoka concluded by noting that the FCT Minister has dent the image of the office he holds by his uncouth behavior at the site:

“This episode is a cautionary tale: This episode demeans the dignity of the office of the Minister and undermines the image of disciplined governance.”

However, section 5 of the Land Use Act gives the Governor, or the FCT Minister in Abuja, wide powers to manage all land within their jurisdiction. In simple terms, this means the Governor can legally grant anyone the right to occupy and use land for any purpose—whether for housing, business, farming, or public use. The Governor can also authorise someone to use part of another person’s land for specific purposes, charge rent for land that has been allocated, and review or change that rent from time to time, as stated in the land documents or whenever necessary.

But that does not warrant him insulting an officer who, by extension, represents the president of the federal republic of Nigeria as the C-in-C of the armed forces.

Another lawyer, Muhammad Bello Buhari, stated that the laws vested on the FCT Minister, authorizing him to wield certain powers do not exonerate him from the uncouth behavior that he exhibited at the Gaduwa land scene.

 

 

“From the reports that have emerged, the land in question was acquired by the 23rd CNS, Vice Admiral AZ Gambo (Rtd), duly documented, and lawfully owned. Yet, under the present administration, it was suddenly revoked without justification, without notice, without compensation, and the minister personally led a team of police and bulldozers to enforce that revocation. How can a revocation of title be valid when it violates the due process prescribed by the same Land Use Act that confers power on the minister? Even under that law, revocation must be founded on overriding public interest, not personal vendetta or political motivation. And where revocation is done, the law requires notice and compensation. When none of these exist, what we have is not law, it is brute power,” Mr. Bello posted.

He continued, “Let us even assume, for argument’s sake, that the land was properly revoked. Should that justify the minister’s physical presence, berating and demeaning a presidential commissioned military officer on lawful duty, acting under the orders of a three-star general? The same law that vests authority in the minister also imposes boundaries on how that authority should be exercised. Power must always be subject to restraint, and leadership without discipline is the most dangerous form of lawlessness.”

Reacting to the development, the former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenaant General Tukur Buratai(rtd), posted on his social media handle that Wike’s action undermines the security consciousness of the country:

“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 posted.
General Buratai concluded by urging the FCT Minister to tender an apology for the verbal abuses toward the officer:

“Consequently, Barrister Nyesom Wike must tender an immediate and unequivocal public apology to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Commander-in-Chief, the entire Armed Forces of Nigeria, and the specific officer whose honour was violated.

Our nation’s security must come first. It is time for decisive action, not politics of military bashing. The integrity of our Armed Forces demands nothing less.”

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President Tinubu Appoints ex-Ekiti Gov. Fayose as Chairman Rural Electrification Agency

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3 hours ago

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July 20, 2026

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By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of 26 persons into the boards and management of 10 federal government agencies and commissions, with former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, named Chairman of the Rural Electrification Agency, REA.

The appointments, announced on Monday in a statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, take immediate effect.

According to the statement, Fayose will chair the board of the REA, while Ahmadu Abubakar and Engineer Ilyasu Ibrahim Makinta were appointed as members and non-executive directors.

The board also includes the agency’s incumbent Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Abba Abubakar Aliyu, alongside the three executive directors previously appointed.

President Tinubu also appointed Major General Junaid Bindawa as Chairman of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission and approved the appointment of eight other officials into the commission.

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Former member of the House of Representatives from Lagos State, Olajumoke Okoya-Thomas, was named Secretary of the commission, while Dr Ogbole Ene Lilian, Oladele Olatubosun and Yakubu Umar Barde were appointed as commissioners representing Benue, Oyo and Kaduna states, respectively.

Other members of the commission are Dr Mai Adamu Yau (Borno), Ginika Florence Tor (Enugu), Engineer Lawrence Okoh (Edo) and Bello Morenike Iyabode (Kogi).

In another appointment, Tosin Johnson Adeyanju, who previously served as Executive Secretary of the National Lottery Trust Fund, NLTF, was redeployed as Secretary of the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission.

The President also appointed Dr Abuh Mohammed as Director-General of the National Population Commission, NPC, Dr Akinola Odeyemi as Managing Director of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading, NBET, and Dr Anthony Inalegwu Godwin as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission.

Engineer Julius Oloro was named Chief Executive Officer of the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation, NCAM, based in Ilorin, Kwara State. He succeeds Dr A.R. Kamal, who died in January.

Tinubu further approved the constitution of the board of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, with Dr Abdullahi Maikano Saidu appointed as Chairman.

Other members of the board are Mohammed Asmau, Mohammed Aliyu Makama, Dr Suleiman Gidado, Louis O. Ndukwe, Amaechi Ugwele and Olaniyi Idowu Onikola.

The President also appointed Shuni Muhammad Dahiru as Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education. Dahiru replaces Professor Shu’aibu Shehu Aliyu, who was reassigned to the Petroleum Trust Development Fund, PTDF, in April.

In the Federal Housing Authority, FHA, Tinubu appointed Gisaor Vincent Iorja as Executive Director, Finance, to replace Mathias Byuan, who resigned from the position to contest the Benue State governorship election.

Iorja, an economist, legal scholar and academic, is currently the Secretary of the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission, BSIEC.

The Presidency said all the appointments take immediate effect.

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FCT Police Detain 4 Officers for Extorting N53,000 from ICPC Chairman

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4 hours ago

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July 20, 2026

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By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

The Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Police Command has detained four police officers for allegedly extorting N53,000 from the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, Dr Musa Aliyu, SAN, during an illegal stop-and-search operation in Abuja.

The FCT Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Sanusi, disclosed this on Monday while briefing journalists in Abuja, describing the officers as “thieves” who had no business wearing the police uniform.

According to Sanusi, the officers abandoned their designated duty posts, converged around the Banex area of Wuse, where they mounted an unauthorised checkpoint, and extorted the ICPC chairman without knowing his identity.

He said the officers compelled the ICPC chairman to withdraw N53,000 through a Point of Sale, POS, operator, made him pay the transaction charges, and later shared the money among themselves.

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“I must say here too that we have about four policemen in custody as we speak who successfully extorted somebody of high importance, unknown to them that this person is a highly placed person in society. In clear terms, they extorted the Chairman of the ICPC.

“They extorted him of N53,000. They took him to a POS, he withdrew the money, paid the charges and they shared the money among themselves,” he said.

The police commissioner said investigations revealed that the officers had formed a criminal gang after leaving their various divisions to carry out the illegal operation.

“They are a gang of criminals who left various divisions, clustered together, moved to Wuse Banex and created a checkpoint where they perpetrated this act before fleeing,” he said.

Sanusi said the command subsequently declared the officers wanted and arrested their gang leader, whose confession led to the arrest of the remaining members of the syndicate.

“We got all of them. We are going to make sure they are severely punished. Those that are going to be dismissed will definitely be dismissed,” he added.

The commissioner also reiterated that the Inspector-General of Police had prohibited the indiscriminate search of citizens’ mobile phones by officers on patrol.

He advised residents not to comply with unlawful demands by police officers to search their phones on the roadside and urged them to report such incidents immediately through the police emergency lines.

“You cannot stop anybody on the road and ask the person to bring out his phone for search. If any policeman stops you and asks to search your phone, don’t agree. Call the police emergency lines and we will ask them why,” Sanusi said.

He further urged members of the public to promptly report cases of extortion and other forms of police misconduct, assuring them that officers found culpable would be tracked down and sanctioned.

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Andy Burnham Becomes UK’s New Prime Minister

Published

9 hours ago

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July 20, 2026

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By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

 

Andy Burnham has become the United Kingdom’s prime minister and was invited by King Charles III to form a government, after Keir Starmer’s resignation.

Burnham enters office promising a “10-year plan for the country” to address some of the fundamental issues holding the UK back.

He added: “I’m not saying that means I’m setting out to say I’m going to be here for 10 years. It’s more that we’re not in the right place structurally.”

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In his first Downing Street speech he promised to give people “breathing room” against the rising cost of living.

He intends to urge the country to be honest about the challenges it faces and will call for “reflection and resolution.”

He enumerated that he is “acutely conscious” that the UK has had seven prime ministers in a little over 10 years, stressing the need for more stable and responsible politics and pledging to restore faith in government.

In his final appearance at the prime minister’s office in Downing Street, Starmer said his “work is done” and that he was leaving the country “stronger and fairer” than when he took office just two years ago.

“I go with good grace, I go with a smile, and I go proud of everything that we have achieved,” he added.

After a brief audience with the king, the palace announced Starmer had tendered his resignation which Charles was “graciously pleased to accept.”

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