The Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru, has defended the action of Lieutenant A.M Yerima, the naval officer who stood up to the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, over access to a parcel of land allegedly belonging to former Chief of Naval Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo.
Badaru assured that the Ministry of Defence and the Military High Command will protect every soldier on lawful duty.
The Minister stated this while fielding questions from journalists during a ministerial press conference on the Armed Force Remembrance Celebration and Remembrance Day, 2026, at the National Defence College , Abuja, on Wednesday.
“ Well, at the Ministry, and indeed the Armed Forces, we will always protect our officers on lawful duty.
“So we are looking into this issue, and we. assure that any officer on lawful duty will be protected highly, so we will not allow anything to happen to him so far he is doing his job, and he’s doing his job greatly well,” Badaru explained.
CKNNews previously reported that a tense confrontation erupted on Tuesday between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and an unidentified military officer over an alleged land-grabbing incident in Abuja’s Gaduwa District.
A video captured the heated exchange, with Wike accusing the officer of unlawfully taking possession of a parcel of land. The minister challenged the officer for laying claim to the property simply because it was linked to a former Chief of Naval Staff.