A constitutional law expert and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Professor Sebastine Hon, has declared that Naval Officer A.M. Yerima acted unlawfully in his Tuesday confrontation with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Barrister Nyesom Wike.
Professor Hon, in a detailed Facebook analysis on Wednesday, condemned the officer’s decision to block the FCT Minister from accessing a contested plot at Gaduwa District, Abuja, arguing that such conduct constitutes a clear breach of Nigerian law.
“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 Senior Advocate stated.
Limits of Military Obedience
The legal practitioner explained that while military officers are required to obey superior orders, this obligation has established limitations under Nigerian jurisprudence. He referenced two Supreme Court decisions, Onunze v. State (2023) and Nigeria Air Force v. James (2002), which affirm that military personnel are not bound to execute illegal or manifestly unjust orders.
According to Professor Hon, the illegality stems from the absence of any service law permitting military officers to guard private construction sites belonging to their superiors, particularly in suspicious circumstances. “If security concerns existed, the retired Naval Officer ought, under the circumstances, to have engaged the civil police,” he noted.
Minister’s Constitutional Authority
The Senior Advocate emphasized that Wike, as FCT Minister, wields presidential powers over land administration in Abuja pursuant to Section 297(2) and related provisions of the 1999 Constitution as amended. He explained that Section 302 of the Constitution, alongside other Acts of the National Assembly, empowers the President to delegate all land administration functions in the FCT 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,” Professor Hon asserted.
He added that even if the superior officer were still in active service, disobeying or obstructing Wike would amount to “an affront to the civil authority of Mr. President.”
Legal Consequences for the Officer
While acknowledging that the minister’s approach may appear confrontational, Professor Hon maintained that Wike’s actions remain “legal and lawful in all respects.” He pointed to Section 114 of the Armed Forces Act, which makes military personnel liable for civil offences, suggesting the officer could face a Court Martial for obstructing a public officer from performing official duties.
The constitutional expert warned against celebrating the incident, cautioning that condoning such behavior could embolden security personnel to disregard 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.
Background of the Confrontation
As earlier reported by hotupdates247.com, the heated exchange occurred on Tuesday at Plot 1946, Gaduwa District, Abuja, when Federal Capital Territory Administration officials, acting under ministerial directive, attempted to enforce a stop-work and demolition order over missing title documents. The property is reportedly linked to former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo (retired).
A widely circulated video shows Minister Wike and his team being prevented from entering the site by uniformed personnel, leading to a tense verbal exchange with Lieutenant Yerima. The minister accused the military personnel and developers of land grabbing and vowed not to be intimidated.
Speaking to journalists after the incident, Wike explained that FCT officials had initially been chased away by military personnel while implementing his directive. “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,” the minister stated.
He criticized the use of military status to intimidate citizens, declaring, “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.”
The incident has sparked nationwide debate about civil-military relations, land administration in the FCT, and the proper exercise of executive authority in Nigeria’s democracy.