The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and officials of the FCT Administration (FCTA) on Tuesday clashed with soldiers in Abuja over access to a disputed property.
A video circulating on social media shows Wike engaged in a heated argument with soldiers who were preventing FCTA officials from entering the site.
Wike insisted that the soldiers stop blocking the officials, noting that they did not have proper documentation for the property, while one soldier maintained he was following instructions.
“Shut up, keep quiet, you are a fool. As at the time I graduated, you were still in primary school,” Wike was seen telling the officers.
“You send soldiers to intimidate who? We are all from this country. If not for the CDS who spoke to me now, you would have to kill everybody here. I’m not one of those you can intimidate,” He further warned.
Reacting to the incident, Wike’s media aide, Lere Olayinka, said on his official Facebook page that the confrontation stemmed from an illegal construction.
He alleged that former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo, had deployed armed military personnel to protect the site after being told to halt building due to a lack of title documents and building approval.
Olayinka stated, “The military men threatened to shoot anyone who interfered with the illegal development.
Today, the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, visited the site after consulting with the Chief of Defence Staff by phone.”
As of press time, neither the Nigerian Army nor the FCTA has released an official statement regarding the incident.
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