‘Officer Yerima broke no law,’ Minister Matawalle claims

Bello Matawalle, the Minister of State for Defence, has claimed that the naval officer who was involved in an altercation with Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, did not break any law.

While speaking with DCL Hausa, Matawalle claimed that officer Yerima will not face any disciplinary action, emphasisisng that he kept his interaction with Wike respectful.

“The minister should not have confronted him. Lieutenant Yerima was acting on orders. If Wike had any concerns, he should have spoken to his superiors or to me directly since I oversee naval affairs. You can clearly see that he was respectful while standing his ground. As far as we are concerned, he did not break any law or military regulation. This whole situation was avoidable. Before the minister went there, he had already spoken with the Chief of Defence Staff and the Chief of Naval Staff, who assured him that the matter would be looked into,” he said.