THINGS got heated between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, his entourage, and some soldiers when he was stopped from gaining access to a land in the Gaduwa district of the area.
“This is unprofessional. You cannot be threatening a minister like this,” one of the officials accompanying Wike told the soldiers as the minister and his team tried to gain access to the land.
The minister, unhappy over the development, questioned the actions of the military officers, saying no one is above the laws of the land.
Wike questioned the development of the land, alleging that due process was not followed.
“You have no document,” the FCT minister said during the impasse on Tuesday, but the soldiers did not budge, saying that they were following instructions.
“We cannot continue to act in impunity. We cannot continue this way. This country cannot go along this line.
“You cannot be higher than any government. You cannot be carrying a gun to intimidate anybody. I am not one of those that they can intimidate,” he said.
After an intense session with the military officers, the FCT minister accused the officers of acting with impunity.
Wike argued that there was no legal document in the FCTA’s record allocating such land to them.
He vowed not to allow such action to stand as far as his administration was concerned.
“It’s really unfortunate. And you heard what was said by the former Chief of Staff,” Wike, a former governor of Rivers State, said.
“I don’t understand how somebody who attained that position, seeing that he has a problem, cannot approach my office to say, ‘Look, this is what’s going on,’ or simply because he is a military man, they could use that to intimidate Nigerians.
“I’m not one of those kinds of people who will succumb to blackmail,” he added.
Despite the minister’s threat, the military officers maintained they would not vacate the land as they were working based on directives given to them by a former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Zubairu Gambo.