Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, has said that the naval officer who clashed with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, in Abuja did nothing wrong. The officer, Lieutenant A. Yerima, was only following orders during a disagreement over a piece of land, which later went viral on social media.
According to a report by Sun Nigeria on Thursday, November 13, 2025, Matawalle described the incident as unnecessary and something that could have been avoided if Wike had followed the right procedure. He explained that the naval officer behaved respectfully and only obeyed instructions from his superiors, which is what every disciplined soldier is trained to do. According to him, the officer did not break any military rule and should not face punishment for doing his job.
The defence minister said he personally called Wike after the video spread online. He told him that instead of confronting the officers at the site, he should have contacted the Ministry of Defence or the Chief of Defence Staff to resolve the issue peacefully.
Matawalle added that the Chief of Naval Staff has now visited the area to begin an investigation into the land dispute. He said that if the land was officially revoked, the process should have been handled properly through legal and diplomatic means.
In his words, “We have not received any formal complaint from Wike, but I called him after the video went viral and advised that he should have spoken with me before going there, rather than confronting the officers directly.” View, More,
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