Following the confrontation between FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and Army Lieutenant A.M. Yerima over an undocumented land issue in Abuja, Nigerians have continued to express deep reservations, demanding a proper investigation and sanctions against the military personnel for obstructing public officials from carrying out their official duties.
TVC gathered several statements on the social media platform X that called for sanctions against the military officer, arguing that his actions directly undermined public officials in the execution of their official duties.
Leading the charge is a Nigerian Lawyer, Akinyemi Rahman, identified as @heisrahman on X, condemned the confrontation, describing it as an action against the provision of the rule of law.
He wrote, “Don’t be fooled into applauding spectacle because you dislike a politician. I can’t believe Nigerians including lawyers are celebrating this. Using armed forces to stop public officials from doing their jobs is dangerous and unacceptable.
“This isn’t heroism; it’s the abuse of force. Because Wike is involved doesn’t justify blind cheer. If soldiers can be used this way against the FCT Minister, they can be used against anyone. They should hold those officers accountable and make an example. No one is above the rule of law.”
Human rights activist Dele Farotimi condemned Nigerians for applauding the military officer’s action, describing the support as “fraudulent patriotism” and directly linking it to the action of applauding President Donald Trump against Nigeria.
He wrote, “Nigerians will applaud anyone and anything that discomfits their oppressors. They reflexively applauded Trump, fraudulent patriotism be damned, and now they applaud Yerima’s regimented impunity, as an antidote to Wike’s madness.”
@RashwalRashwal also wrote on X, “Those who refused to see anything good in this country or by no means hated this current regime refuse to sieve the altercation betwwen Wike and that officer. In a saner clime, that officer would have been dealt with with law. Because politics is superior to military.
“That is only known to those who are scholars of civil-military relatios. This is not to give credence to the minister’s mode of response.”
Another user @OmotayoSolomo10 also wrote on X saying, “One day a soldier can equally go to oni of ife house or any random person and collect his car keys because he is following orders One of the problems of this country is lawlessness and a lot of people seems to be above the law.
“WIKE is the minister of FCT If he realise that even aso rock doesn’t have property, he has the powers to revoke it, the only thing the occupier of the aso rock can do is to find a way to settle with the minister and regularise its documents and not exercise powers No one I repeat no one is above @GovWike in the FCT.
“When @officialABAT went to commission the ICC he made it clear that anyone coming to use the place must pay even if he is the one Simply because he acknowledges wike as the land lord We need to be guided by laws and not just sentiment emotions and unnecessary power show.”
@TheOdin_II wrote, “When a soldier is sent to guard a piece of land, it shows what we value most as a country, and sadly, it’s not the right things. The recent clash between Wike and that officer in Abuja is more than just two men arguing. It shows how broken our system has become. I don’t blame the officer.
“I understand why some Nigerians including Agba @jon_d_doe are praising him. We have to blame the leaders, which Wike is part of. But the truth is, the officer should never have been there in the first place. A soldier’s job is to protect the country, not to stand guard over a plot of land.
“Whoever sent him there is part of the same failed system that keeps repeating the same mistakes. And Wike, walking around the site and shouting at the officer, only made things worse. His behaviour didn’t show leadership, it showed pride and lack of control.”
@OsosaChris wrote, “The position of the law is clear in the open confrontation between the FCT Minister Wike and the military order that restricted him in accessing Abuja land. State Governors are endowed by law to hold land property in the State in trust for the people.
“In the case with Abuja, the Minister (Wike) serve as the Governor. By law, NO military order or authority can hinder the Minister of FCT from accessing any land within the territory. The military command given to the young officer is criminal to the law and must be prosecuted.
“We must deal with impunity in this nation. The worst of the joke is the fact that the military top gun that gave the command that hindered Wike is RETIRED. How messy could it be?”
TVC previously reported that the recent, heated scuffle in Abuja between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and an Army Lieutenant, A.M. Yerima, over a land dispute was not an isolated incident, but rather the latest manifestation of a recurring challenge to civilian authority in Nigeria.
A video obtained by our correspondent captured the heated exchange, in which Wike accused the officer of unlawfully taking possession of a parcel of land. The minister challenged the officer for laying claim to the property simply because it was linked to a former Chief of Naval Staff.
Pattern In Times “Men In Uniform” Defied State, Federal Government Officials
