{"id":95978,"date":"2025-11-12T10:07:29","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T10:07:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=95978"},"modified":"2025-11-12T10:14:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T10:14:47","slug":"former-army-chief-justifies-conduct-of-navy-officer-say-wike-must-offer-public-apology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=95978","title":{"rendered":"Former Army chief justifies conduct of junior Navy officer who took on appointee of C-in-C, says Wike must apologise"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a bizarre justification of the conduct of a Navy Lieutenant, A.M. Yerima, answering back publicly to a senior appointee of the Commander-in-Chief, former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai (retd.), has condemned the recent confrontation between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and a naval officer in Abuja, describing it as a \u201cserious threat to national security.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yerima was believed to be doing the bidding of immediate past Chief of Naval Staff, Awwal Zubairu Gambo, who is claiming ownership of a controversial plot in Abuja.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a statement shared on his verified Facebook page on Tuesday, Buratai criticised Wike\u2019s behavior during the encounter, calling it \u201ca reckless act that goes beyond mere misconduct\u201d and one that \u201cundermines the authority of the Commander-in-Chief and the integrity of the Armed Forces.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Retired Lt. General TY Buratai.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The altercation reportedly took place at Plot 1946, Gaduwa District, Abuja, over a disputed parcel of land allegedly linked to a former Chief of Naval Staff. Wike, who visited the site with senior officials of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), accused those on-site of engaging in \u201cillegal construction.\u201d<\/p>\n

A viral video of the incident shows the minister confronting a naval officer said to be overseeing the property\u2019s development.
\n\u201cYou\u2019re in uniform, and you\u2019re telling me the Navy owns this land? Who gave you approval to build? Even if you\u2019re the Chief of Naval Staff, the law must be obeyed,\u201d Wike was heard saying.<\/p>\n

The officer, whose name has not been disclosed, reportedly explained that the land belonged to a former service chief and that the military personnel were only there to provide security.<\/p>\n

Reacting to the incident, Buratai warned that Wike\u2019s actions \u201cstrike at the core of Nigeria\u2019s command and control system,\u201d cautioning that such public altercations with uniformed personnel could seriously affect discipline and morale within the Armed Forces.<\/p>\n

\u201cA minister\u2019s verbal assault on a military officer in uniform is an act of profound indiscipline that strikes at the foundation of our national security framework,\u201d Buratai said. \u201cThis is not a political show\u2014it is a reckless endangerment of national order.\u201d<\/p>\n

He further stated that Wike\u2019s conduct \u201cdisrespects the Commander-in-Chief and demoralizes officers serving under the Nigerian flag,\u201d describing it as \u201can unacceptable affront to the Federal Government\u2019s authority.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buratai, who served as Chief of Army Staff from 2015 to 2021, urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to address the issue urgently, calling it a matter of national security.<\/p>\n

\u201cBarrister Nyesom Wike must issue an immediate, unreserved public apology to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Commander-in-Chief, to the Armed Forces of Nigeria, and to the officer whose honour was impugned,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He concluded by stressing that preserving the discipline and integrity of the military is paramount.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur national security must take precedence. This is a time for firm leadership, not politics that undermines the military,\u201d Buratai stated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a bizarre justification of the conduct of a Navy Lieutenant, A.M. Yerima, answering back publicly to a senior appointee of the Commander-in-Chief, former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai (retd.), has condemned the recent confrontation between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and a naval officer in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":95979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1012,7480,617,742,7481],"class_list":["post-95978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-buratai","tag-gambo","tag-land","tag-wike","tag-yerima"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/95979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}