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By David Odama
The embattled Navy officer, Lieutenant A.M. Yarima, who recently clashed with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, reportedly survived an assassination attempt on Sunday evening in Abuja.
According to military sources, the officer was trailed by unidentified men dressed in black and riding in two unmarked Hilux vans with no registration number plates, allegedly followed him from the NIPCO Filling Station off the Line Expressway to Gado Nasco Way.
Noticing he was being trialled, Yarima was said to have carried out a “strategic manoeuvre” that enabled him to evade the suspected assailants.
The incident is said to have occurred around 6:30 p.m.
Sources on Sunday said the matter is currently under investigation and is being handled with “the seriousness it deserves,” adding that further details are being withheld to avoid compromise.
The suspected attack comes few days after Lt. Yarima, while on duty with other security personnel, engaged in a tensed heated argument with FCT Minister Nyesom Wike over a disputed land site in the Gaduwa District.
The altercation, which was captured on video and widely circulated, triggered public debate and prompted intervention from the Presidency, which halted the demolition exercise at the site.
Recalled that following the clash, military veterans across the country criticised Wike for verbally attacking the young officer and strongly opposed calls for disciplinary action against Yarima.
The spokesman for the Coalition of Retired Veterans, Abiodun Durowaiye-Herberts, warned that ex-service members were ready to “occupy the office and residence of the FCT Minister” if any punitive action was taken against the officer.
He stressed that military personnel owe allegiance to Nigeria and its Constitution—not to individual public officials—insisting that Wike must apologise for his conduct.
“How can a public office holder call an officer ‘a fool’ on camera?” he asked, arguing that such behaviour undermines national institutions and diminishes the dignity of public office.
Meanwhile, Minister of Defence Mohammad Badaru Abubakar has assured that no military personnel lawfully carrying out their duties would be victimised over the incident.
“We will always protect officers and our armed forces personnel on lawful duty,” he said during a briefing ahead of the 2026 Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebrations at the National Defence College. “Any officer who is doing his job lawfully and doing it well will be protected.”
Veterans had earlier vowed to mobilise and occupy the FCT Ministry if Lt. Yarima faced any form of disciplinary action.
