Reported by: L . Imafidon | Edited by: Henry Owen
FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has launched a sharp criticism against former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai (rtd), accusing him of misrepresenting Tuesday’s confrontation between the minister and naval officers in Abuja. Wike said Buratai had “no moral ground” to lecture him on conduct, referencing a series of controversies and human rights allegations associated with the retired general’s tenure as Army chief.
Addressing journalists at his Life Camp residence, Wike dismissed Buratai’s claim that the altercation amounted to a national security threat or an insult to President Bola Tinubu. He said Buratai’s comments were politically motivated and “far from the truth.”
According to the minister, the incident began after naval officer Lt. A.M. Yerima allegedly obstructed an FCT demolition team during enforcement at a disputed Gaduwa plot. Wike blamed Yerima for escalating the matter, saying the land was declared illegally acquired during the tenure of former Naval Chief Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo. “Wike accused the officer of obeying an unlawful directive,” the report stated.
Wike insisted that Buratai had no authority to advise him on decency or proper behaviour. “I read what one former Chief of Army Staff wrote. He cannot tell me of decency and he can’t teach me,” the minister said.
He went further, reviving long-standing political accusations from the 2019 election cycle. “This was the same man who (allegedly) directed his GOC to rig election, my election in 2019,” Wike said. He also alleged that there were attempts on his life during that period. “He told his GOC to k+ll me and I could not be k+lled,” he said.
Wike also accused Buratai of acting as an agent during an APC presidential primary. “He became an agent in APC primaries to one of APC’s presidential aspirants. Look at the rank of a polling agent,” he said, dismissing the ex-service chief’s recent comments as hypocritical.
The minister reaffirmed his loyalty to President Tinubu and said he would continue to challenge political opponents regardless of party. “Whether you are in PDP, whether you are in APC, whether you are in ADC, it is not my business,” Wike said. He added that he would “continue to make them have sleepless nights.”
He maintained that he acted within the law and urged officials at all levels to respect due process. “As far as I know, I am standing by the side of the law,” he stated.
Buratai’s Controversial Record Resurfaces
Wike’s remarks have revived public attention on several human rights allegations that shadowed Buratai’s years as Chief of Army Staff between 2015 and 2021 — allegations that domestic and international organisations documented extensively at the time.
Among the most controversial incidents was the December 2015 Zaria clash, where hundreds of members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) were killed during an army operation. Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, claimed many victims were unarmed. The military denied wrongdoing.
Buratai’s tenure also saw allegations of rape in IDP camps, reported by Amnesty International, which said soldiers and Civilian JTF members assaulted displaced women and girls. The military publicly rejected the claims.
Rights groups such as HURIWA accused the army under Buratai of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, torture, and enforced disappearances, especially in counterinsurgency operations. Buratai responded by setting up a military Board of Inquiry, but Amnesty International later said the panel lacked powers to enforce criminal accountability and could only “express opinions.”
Other civil society coalitions claimed as many as 19 alleged massacres occurred during Buratai’s tenure, calling for international investigation, including by the International Criminal Court. Buratai and the army consistently denied all wrongdoing.
Human rights advocates also raised concerns about harsh detention conditions, lack of medical access for detainees, and alleged cover-ups of certain incidents.
Many of these accusations remain untested in court, and no convictions have emerged from them. Nevertheless, Wike used the history of unresolved controversies to argue that Buratai lacks the credibility to question his behaviour in the recent FCT incident.
With Wike’s forceful pushback and the resurfacing of Buratai’s military-era controversies, the dispute has evolved into a broader debate about accountability, the conduct of security leaders, and the politicisation of Nigeria’s armed forces.
For now, Wike insists the matter is simple: “If you like to write anything you want to write… bring every ethnicity coloration, it is your business,” he said. “All I know is that I stand by the law.”
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