Wike vs Military: Naval officer breached the law — SAN

A constitutional law expert, Prof Sebastine Hon, SAN, has slammed the conduct of Naval Officer A.M. Yerima in his confrontation with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over land access in the FCT on Tuesday.

Hon in a post on Facebook, described the officer’s actions as a breach of the law, condemning his decision to obstruct Wike’s access to a disputed plot of land in Abuja.

According to him, 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.

The senior lawyer 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.

He further explained 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).

DAILY POST reports that Minister and some officials of the FCT Authority, FCTA, on Tuesday clashed with soldiers in Abuja over access to a land.