Matawalle
By Amah
Kindly share:
Bello Matawalle, the Minister of State for Defence, has commended the comportment of Lieutenant A. Yerima, the naval officer, who was involved in a fued with Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, on Tuesday.
Matawalle added that there would be no need to sanction the officer, describing the incident as “unnecessary and avoidable.”
Wike, alongside officials of the FCDA, had gone to a disputed parcel of land in Abuja’s Gaduwa District, where they clashed with some military personnel led by Yerima, guarding the property reportedly belonging to a former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Zubairu Gambo (retd.)
However, Matawalle, who spoke in an interview with DCL Hausa on posited that the matter could have been better handled through formal communication rather than a public spat.
“What happened between Minister Wike and the officer is unfortunate. When he got there, the officer explained that he was simply obeying orders given to him. Wike should not have exchanged words with the officer; he ought to have addressed his concerns through the officer’s superiors,” Matawalle said.
“He (Wike) is our colleague, and Wike could have reached out to us to resolve whatever issue. The officer’s action was lawful because he was trained to be disciplined, loyal, and obedient to orders. Therefore, the young officer only carried out his duty worthy of commendation.
“He did not commit any offence under military regulations; he merely obeyed a lawful order and followed due process. If you observe carefully, he spoke respectfully and conducted himself properly.
“There is, therefore, no offence under military law for which he should be charged. Wike should not have engaged him in an altercation, especially out of respect for the uniform he was wearing. Anyone who disrespects a soldier indirectly disrespects the President, who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. There is, therefore, no basis for any punishment against the officer,” the minister added.
Matawalle also made it clear that he not defending any act of military misconduct but rather stating the need the imperative of government officials to respect the established protocol.
“This is not about supporting the military to act disrespectfully toward civilians. The Minister should understand that every officer has superiors. I gathered that he called the Chief of Defence Staff, who advised him to wait for an investigation,” he noted.
“However, he did not wait and instead went straight to the site. As a leader, he ought to have exercised patience and waited for the outcome of the investigation.
“Now that the Chief of Naval Staff has visited the area, since it involves a land dispute, the matter will be investigated to know who owns the lawful documents.
“If the land has been revoked, there are established procedures to be followed diplomatically.”
He also disclosed that the defence ministry was yet to receive any formal complaint with regard to the dispute.
“We have not received any formal complaint from Wike, but I called him after the video went viral and advised that he should have spoken with me before going there, rather than confronting the officers directly,” the defence minister added.
