Naval officer in face-off with Wike breached the law — SAN

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria and constitutional law expert, Prof. Sebastine Hon, has faulted the conduct of Naval Officer A.M. Yerima in his confrontation with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom 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 into 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,” he wrote.

Hon cited Supreme Court rulings in Onunze v. State (2023) 8 NWLR (Pt. 1885) 61 and Nigeria Air Force v. James (2002) 18 NWLR (Pt. 798) 295, which, according to him, clearly established that military officers are not bound to obey illegal or manifestly unjust orders.

“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.

He added that if security concerns existed, “the retired Naval Officer ought, under the circumstances, to have engaged the civil police.”

Hon further stressed that as the FCT minister, Wike exercises the powers of the President over land administration in Abuja, pursuant to Sections 297(2) and other provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

He said, “By Section 302 of the same Constitution, read together with other extant Acts of the National Assembly, the President of Nigeria has delegated all powers with respect to land administration in the FCT Abuja to the minister.

“Going by constitutional and administrative law, therefore, Mr Wike stood in loco of the President of Nigeria and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces on that fateful day.

“Consequently, even if the superior officer were still in service, he would not disobey Mr Wike or obstruct him from entering the land. This was an affront to the civil authority of Mr President.”

While acknowledging the minister’s method may be brash, he said Wike’s action “is legal and lawful in all respects.

“Rather, it is the officer who obstructed him that has breached not just the Nigerian Constitution, but also service and extant regulatory laws.

For the avoidance of any doubt, Section 114 of the Armed Forces Act makes military personnel criminally liable for civil offences.

This means the officer in question could be arraigned before a Court Martial for obstructing a public officer from performing his public duties, et cetera,” he added.

The law professor cautioned against celebrating the incident, warning that condoning such acts could embolden security personnel to disrespect civil authority.

“If such intolerable conduct by the young officer is not punished or is celebrated, this may unleash a reign of terror by the men in khaki against hapless civilians — with a grin or boast that ‘we did it to Wike and nothing happened,’” he concluded.

Hon is among the voices joining the public discourse following Tuesday’s heated clash between Wike and the naval officer at a disputed land site in Abuja.

The confrontation occurred at Plot 1946, Gaduwa District, Abuja, when officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, acting under Wike’s order, attempted to enforce a stop-work/demolition order over a lack of title documents.

Vedio of the encounter, which circulated widely on social media, shows the FCT Minister and his team being blocked by uniformed personnel and exchanging heated words with Yarima.

Wike accused the soldiers and the developers of land grabbing and vowed not to be intimidated by any individual or group

Addressing the press after the confrontation, the minister said he would not succumb to blackmail.

He recounted that the military intervened during the enforcement of FCT directives, which prompted the confrontation.

“When they came here, I was informed that the military came to chase them away, and I thought they were acting illegally.

“So today, while I was in the office, they came to implement the directive that was given to them by myself. I was told that the military had taken over the place, and I had to come by myself. It is really unfortunate.

“I do not understand how somebody who attained that position sees that he has a problem and cannot approach my office to say, ‘look, this is what is going on,’ but simply because he is a military man, he could use that to intimidate Nigerians. I am not one who will succumb to blackmail or intimidation,” Wike said.