‘Nothing Will Happen to Him’ — Minister of Defence Speaks on Naval Officer’s Clash with Wike

MINISTER of Defence, Mohammad Badaru Abubakar, has said that no officer or soldier on lawful duty will be punished as a result of the altercation that ensued between soldiers and the Minister of the FCT, Barr Nyesom Wike, in Abuja on Tuesday, November 11.

Abubakar said this on Wednesday, November 12, while speaking on the occasion of the ministerial briefing to flag off the 2026 Armed Forces Celebration and remembrance day celebration at the National Defence College.

‘’Well, at the Ministry, and indeed the Armed Forces, we will always protect our officers on lawful duty.

So we are looking into this issue, and we. assure that any officer on lawful duty will be protected highly, so we will not allow anything to happen to him so far he is doing his job, and he’s doing his job greatly well.” he said

Recall that Wike and a Naval officer, Lt A.M Yerima, had a faceoff over a parcel of land in dispute. The land allegedly belongs to former Chief of Naval Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo.

 The faceoff saw the officer stopping Wike and his entourage from gaining access into the parcel of land in dispute. While Wike said the land in question was acquired wrongly and that ongoing work on it needed to stop, the officer on the other hand insisted the Minister and his entourage cannot step into the property as he was acting on an order.

This led to a faceoff with Wike hurling insults on the officer who was defiant.

The coalition of retired veterans of the Nigerian military had vowed that their members would mobilise and occupy the Ministry of the FCT in Abuja if the officer who said he was acting on a lawful order was punished in any way.