A heated public confrontation between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and a Naval officer, identified as Lieutenant A.M. Yerima over a disputed land parcel in Abuja has ignited debates among Nigerians.
The Wike-Naval officer clash has generated arguments with many debating the issue of the rule of law and military overreach.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the Wike-Naval Officer clash was captured in a video widely circulated on social media.
In the viral video, Wike was seen talking inappropriately to the officer, who was deployed to the site in Abuja’s Gaduwa District to block FCT officials from enforcing development control directives.
“Show me the documents you have. You have no documents,” Wike was heard demanding, insisting the military cannot be used to intimidate government officials.
The officer, in turn, maintained that the land was legally acquired and that he was acting under “official orders.”
The confrontation escalated dramatically, with Wike shouting, “Shut your mouth! Who does that? Will you get out?” to which the officer defiantly responded, “Sir, I’m an officer. I have integrity.”
Following the emergence of the video online, some Nigerians have condemned the Minister’s use of abusive language toward a serving military officer, arguing that even in the face of alleged illegality, a public official should maintain decorum and adhere to the rule of law.
Some have also criticised Wike for assaulting an officer in uniform and exhibiting unacceptable disrespect for the office of the C-in-C.
However, some Nigerians have argued that while respect for security personnel is essential, the military’s role is not to protect disputed private property and that any action obstructing the FCT’s enforcement mandate contributes to the broader problem of the rule of law.
Reacting to the Wike-Naval Officer clash, Osita Chidoka, a former Minister of Aviation and ex-Corp Marshal/Chief Executive of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), lambasted Wike for “diminishing” the authority of the Nigerian government by confronting the military officer.
He said: “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.
“Minister Nyesom Wike’s decision to personally enforce a directive at a disputed site was a fundamental misstep. In constitutional democracies, power operates through institutions not impulse.
“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.
“When a minister trades words with a uniformed officer acting under orders — lawful or otherwise — it corrodes discipline and confuses hierarchy.
“The officer’s duty is to obey the chain of command, not verbal instructions on a roadside; the minister’s duty is to act through lawful channels.
“The Minister should apologise to the officer for using abusive language. It is not acceptable behaviour.”
Similarly, a former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and a former Ambassador to the Republic of Benin, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai (rtd.) issued a stern condemnation of Wike, following his verbal altercation with Yerima, in Abuja on November 11, 2025.
In a strongly worded statement released on Tuesday, Buratai labelled the incident as an act of “profound indiscipline” that constitutes a “palpable threat to national security and institutional integrity.”
Buratai, who led the Nigerian Army from 2015 to 2021, argued that the minister’s exchange with the officer in uniform is a direct attack on the nation’s command structure.
He 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.
“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. Such actions erode the very foundation of discipline upon which our national security apparatus stands.
“This cannot be dismissed as political theatre. It is a reckless endangerment of national order. This action by Wike is clearly an indication of undermining the federal government’s authority.
“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.”
However, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and constitutional law expert, Prof. Sebastine Hon, faulted the conduct of Yerima in his confrontation with Wike, describing the officer’s actions as a “breach of the law.”
Reacting to the incident in a Facebook post on Wednesday, Hon condemned the officer’s decision to obstruct Wike’s access to a disputed plot of land in Abuja, saying the act could not be justified under any lawful military order.
“Brushing sentiments aside, I hereby condemn in totality the actions of the Naval Officer, A.M. Yerima, who obstructed the FCT Minister from gaining access to that parcel of land, under the guise of ‘obeying superior orders.’
“The duty of a junior officer to obey the orders of his superiors, even though strongly upheld in military and paramilitary circles, has its own limitations recognised by no other authority but the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
“The illegality in that order stems primarily from the fact that no service law of the military permits a serving military officer to mount guard at the private construction site of his boss, especially under suspicious circumstances like this,” he stated.
Below are some other reactions;
