The Coalition of Military Veterans has condemned the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, over his altercation with a naval officer in Abuja on Tuesday.
Wike confronted the naval officer, Lieutenant A.M. Yerima, over an alleged land-grabbing incident at the Gaduwa District in Abuja.
A viral video showed the minister being stopped by military personnel led by Yerima from entering the site, prompting a heated exchange between his security detail and the officers in camouflage.
Wike, who had stepped in to quell the situation, furiously questioned why the military was laying claim to the property allegedly linked to a former Chief of Naval Staff.
During the faceoff, Lt. Yerima interrupted the minister, insisting that the acquisition was lawful and that he had acted with integrity.
Angered by Yerima’s courage, Wike ordered him to “shut up,” but the officer returned, “I will not shut up.”
“You are a very big fool. As at the time I graduated, you were still in primary school,” Wike spilt.
“I am not a fool, sir," the officer replied. "I am acting on orders," he continued.
However, in a Tuesday statement signed by its spokesperson, Abiodun Durowaiye-Herberts, the coalition described the minister’s conduct as “disgraceful and unbecoming of a public office holder.”
The group said Wike’s public insult to a uniformed officer was “an embarrassment to the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu” and “a desecration of the dignity of public office.”
Durowaiye-Herberts said the minister should have engaged the Chief of Naval Staff privately if there were grievances, rather than resorting to abusive language and attempting to “humiliate a young officer acting on orders.”
“If Wike was a responsible public office holder, shouldn't he have engaged the CNS privately and resolved issues, rather than coming to the public, thinking he could disgrace a very Senior retired General (a former CNS),” he said.
He warned that any move to sanction the officer would be met with stiff resistance from the veterans.
“If by any reason the officer is punished as being campaigned by hypocritical politicians, military veterans will occupy the office and residence of the FCT Minister,” he stated.
The coalition accused Wike of having a record of harassing security personnel and recalled a similar incident involving a retired Air Commodore months earlier.
The group urged the presidency to call the minister to order, insisting that his behaviour undermines discipline, governance, and the authority of the Nigerian state.
