• Obi decries erosion of discipline, institutional order
• Ex-naval chief, Gambo, was duped, says aide
Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru, has reiterated that the Federal Government and the military leadership would safeguard soldiers engaged in lawful duties.
He made the remarks yesterday in Abuja during a ministerial press briefing ahead of the 2026 Armed Forces Remembrance Day.
His comment followed Tuesday’s confrontation between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and some military officers reportedly acting on the orders of a former Chief of Naval Staff.
He said, “Well, at the ministry, and indeed in the armed forces, we will always protect our officers on lawful duty,” the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted Badaru as saying.
On Tuesday, videos surfaced online showing Wike in a heated argument with a military official at a site.
However, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and constitutional lawyer, Prof. Sebastine Hon, has faulted the conduct of the young military officer, A.M. Yerima.
In a strongly worded statement, Hon condemned the officer’s action, describing it as “a clear affront to civil authority” and a breach of both constitutional and military service laws.
According to the legal scholar, the officer’s defence that he was acting under “superior orders” does not hold water, as obedience to orders in the military is not absolute.
He cited recent and past decisions of the Supreme Court affirming that service personnel are not bound to obey “palpably illegal or manifestly unjust” orders.
Quoting from Onunze v. State (2023) 8 NWLR (Pt. 1885) 61 at 108 SC, Hon referenced Justice Ogunwunmiju’s pronouncement that: “The obligation to obey the orders of a superior does not include orders that are palpably illegal or manifestly unjust… When an officer obeys palpably illegal orders, they become personally liable for their actions.”
He also recalled the Supreme Court’s position in Nigerian Air Force v. James (2002) 18 NWLR (Pt. 798) 295 at 324 SC, where Justice Onu held that military personnel remain subject to both military and civil law, and cannot hide under the excuse of unlawful directives.
Also speaking, the Labour Party’s (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, has described the outburst as a reflection of the country’s deepening institutional decay and disregard for due process.
He said the confrontation, which has stirred public outrage, was not merely an exchange between two individuals, but “a reflection of how public power and civic duty have lost the discipline of law and order.”
In a statement titled “Wike versus Naval Officer: A Lesson for National Reflection,” the former Anambra State governor, on his X handle, lamented that what should have been a routine encounter has, once again, become a national embarrassment.
“What should ordinarily be a simple civic exchange has become a national spectacle — a reflection of how far we’ve drifted from institutional order and respect for procedure,” Obi said.
He questioned the growing trend of using military personnel for civilian operations and the frequent intrusion of political officeholders into matters that should be handled according to established protocols.
But the Senior Special Assistant on Publicity and Communications to the FCT Minister, Lere Olayinka, has defended his principal’s conduct.
He stated that the clash originated from an alleged fraudulent land transaction that deceived a former naval chief, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo (rtd), into purchasing a plot that was never intended for private use.
On a live programme yesterday, Olayinka revealed that the disputed property was initially allotted in 2007 to Santos Estate Limited for park and recreation purposes, not residential or commercial development.
“That particular land was allocated to a company in 2007, Santos Estate Limited, for park and recreation.
“The company did not do anything on the land because that place is a parkway, it’s a walkway, it’s a road corridor. You don’t build there,” he stated.
