Human rights activist and publisher Omoyele Sowore has accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, of ordering the unlawful detention of a Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) staff member, Mairiga Hassan Shaharu, over a leaked land allocation scandal.
In a Facebook post, Sowore claimed that Shaharu, who works in the department that handles new land applications, was detained last Friday at the FCDA Police Post on the orders of Wike’s Chief Security Officer (CSO). Shaharu was allegedly accused of leaking documents that reportedly showed the FCT Minister had allocated large portions of Abuja land to his two underage sons—a story first reported by Peoples Gazette.
Sowore, accompanied by human rights lawyers Rosemary HamzaHamza, Ak Musa, and a third unnamed lawyer, visited the police post where they were told that the detention was backed by a court order. However, the legal team said they discovered the order was forged and issued by a magistrate who no longer presides in the jurisdiction—a claim that, if verified, could indicate a serious abuse of office.
The lawyers said the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) refused to show the order, and when it was briefly seen, it raised red flags. According to Sowore, a senior female officer at the station said Shaharu could not be released because he was being held on Wike’s personal instruction.
After hours of back-and-forth, Wike’s CSO reportedly said the matter had now escalated to the FCT Police Commissioner, CP Wale Ajao. Sowore accused Ajao of enabling politically motivated detentions, referencing his role in the recent imprisonment of a TikToker following a complaint by Senator Ned Nwoko and his wife Regina Daniels.
In a surprising turn, the CSO allegedly said Wike had summoned Sowore and the detained FCDA worker to his office the next day. Sowore rejected the invitation, questioning the basis for the worker’s detention.
“If Wike never allocated land to his children, why is someone being detained for leaking documents that supposedly don’t exist?” Sowore asked. He called for the immediate release of Mairiga Shaharu and urged authorities to investigate the alleged illegal land allocations.
Recall that on Thursday, during his media chat, the FCT Minister formally responded to allegations that he allocated about 41 plots of land to his two sons, describing the allegations as sponsored by a failed politician from Adamawa State.
