FCT Minister Nyesom Wike confronted a military personnel who, along with other soldiers, forcibly removed FCT development control officials attempting to halt the development of a plot in Abuja that the Minister described as illegal
Wike accused the military of intimidation, as the occupants failed to produce valid documents.
This confrontation drew a sharp rebuke from former Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, who condemned Wike’s actions as a “threat to national security” and a profound act of “indiscipline” that undermines the command structure.
Buratai demanded Wike apologize to the President as (Commander-in-Chief) and the officer.
The incident is reportedly tied to a disputed 30-hectare plot in Gaduwa District, originally allocated to military officers but allegedly revoked and reallocated to Wike’s political associates in disregard of due process and its original designation as a green area.
The confrontation revived a 2022 video showing how the governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu handled an incident with a Chief Superintendent of Police who defied his order to vacate a lagos settlement.
In Edo State, the opening event of the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) in Benin City was disrupted by protesters demanding the facility be renamed the “Benin Royal Museum.”
Governor Monday Okpebholo expressed “surprise” over the event, claiming the previous administration never briefed him on MOWAA or handed over any documentation, attributing the controversy to a lack of transparency.
The Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, lamented that documents brought for him to sign would have stripped the Benin Kingdom of its rights to the repatriated artefacts, drawing parallels to the 1897 British invasion.
In response, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu constituted a high-level Presidential Committee, chaired by Minister Hannatu Musawa, to develop a comprehensive framework for permanent resolution.
The committee includes representatives from the Presidency, the Palace of the Oba of Benin, the Edo State Government, and foreign embassies, signaling the recognition that the MOWAA crisis touches on cultural sovereignty and international diplomacy.
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