Ex-Naval Chief was scammed – Wike’s aide explains cause of FCT Minister, military face-off

Lere Olayinka, the Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, on Wednesday, explained the cause of the face-off between his principal and some military officers allegedly involved in land grabbing.

Olayinka disclosed that the owner of the land, former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awal Gambo, was scammed by the company the land was originally allocated to.

Yesterday, Wike and some military where involved in a face-off following the refusal of the Minister to gain access into the land in contention.

The Commanding officer had disclosed that he was acting on orders, hence can’t allow Wike and officials of the FCT Administration to have access to the land.

However, featuring on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Olayinka explained that the land was allocated for parks and recreation.

Olayinka said: “That particular land was allocated to a company in 2007, Santos Estate Limited for park and recreation. The company did not do anything on the land because that place is a parkway, is a walkway, is a road corridor. You don’t build there.

“Then in 2022, the company wrote to the FCTA, the minister, I want approval from you to convert the purpose to commercial, from park, to build park. You know what park is? Not permanent structures. Probably in anticipation of the minister’s approval for conversion.

“The man decided to partition the land allocated to him for park and recreation, he now partitioned the land and sold to people including the former chief of Naval Staff.

“And that is why I want to say here that the former Chief of Naval Staff was scammed, he was scammed. And he has realized that he was scammed. Instead of him to now come out and seek help, he resorted to use military might.

“Now, in 2022, the minister of FCT declined that request. Did not grant the request for change of land use made by that company. That is where it ended. But he had already sold the land to people. Giving them the impression that the land use will change.”

Olayinka also condemned the action of the Commanding officer who denied Wike access on the grounds that he was obeying orders.

He said: “I saw the military officer yesterday telling us that he was acting on order, and I’ve also read online that a military man should obey the last order. And I’ve asked myself, which order? Like the minister also asked yesterday which order?

“You obeyed the last order, yes but that order has to be lawful, the order has to be reasonable.
For instance, if I am a military officer and my superior gives me an order to go and shoot somebody, or let’s say my boss gives me an order to go and rape my daughter, will I obey the order because the order is coming from my superior?

“Or because somebody is dragging a girlfriend with my superior and that superior now sees this person dragging girlfriend with him walking on the street, and he says, shoot this person, because it is an order, I should obey it.

“A military man should go and mount guard in a public building under construction, that is the issue here. Building under construction, military men that was reposted to the former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awal Gambo, as his personal security detail, to secure him, to guard him, to protect him. He now chose to make himself vulnerable and send those people on that errand.

“It’s like somebody now there, I have security to protect me. And I now choose to send them to go and be protecting my property that is under construction. I don’t seem to get it.”