“I’m not one of those kinds of persons that will succumb to blackmail or intimidation.
“It’s really unfortunate, and you heard what the officer said, that he was sent by the former Chief of Naval Staff. I don’t understand how somebody who attained that position and he sees that he has a problem, cannot approach my office to explain what is going on. Or simply because he’s a military man, he felt he could use that to intimidate Nigerians.”
The minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, made the statement shortly after he encountered a bitter confrontation with military officers from the Nigerian Navy on a piece of land under development in Gaduwa District, along the corridor of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Way in the FCT. The land in dispute belongs to the former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after the tense standoff, Wike condemned the actions, describing them as an act of lawlessness on the part of the Nigerian military.
The minister vowed that retired Vice Admiral Gambo would not be allowed to carry out what he called “this illegal development and land grabbing, simply because he was a former Chief of Naval Staff. I will not allow that.”
He said that he had instructed his men to make sure that the construction is halted forthwith because the owner has no legal paper in terms of building approval or even acquisition of the land.
The Minister questioned the use of military personnel to protect what he described as a clear case of illegal development and land grabbing and vowed that he will not allow such to continue.
“You can imagine where you cannot even prove that you have the documents. You don’t have the title documents and you don’t have the approval for building. “How can we continue to allow lawlessness to prevail in this country? What about those who don’t have the military? What about those who don’t have security?”
The Minister said that he has already engaged the Chief of Defence Staff and the Chief of Naval Staff, both of whom have assured him that they will intervene to resolve the matter.
