The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) on Thursday frowned at the conduct of the junior naval officer, Lt. AM Yerima, who had an altercation with the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike and called on the Nigerian Navy to immediately tender an unreserved apology to the minister.
National Chairman of PANDEF, Amb. Boladei Igali condemned the rising social media glamorization of what he described as a grossly improper conduct of a junior naval officer said to be acting on the orders of a retired service chief.
Igali said the retired service chief ordinarily ought to know that Wike, who is a member of the Federal Executive Council and a direct representative of President Bola Tinubu over all matters concerning the FCT, deserved his due respect.
He said: “Wike without doubt, one of the best performing ministers in this administration,deserves to be treated with much more respect and decorum”.
He lamented that the unacceptable behaviour of the junior naval officer was not just an affront to the FCT minister but also an open show of disdain for the office of the president, whose powers vested in the FCT minister, was publicly ridiculed.
Igali said: “The minister of the FCT deserves an unconditional apology from the leadership of the Nigerian Navy on behalf of its former Head and the harpless young officer involved in the horrible spectacle, which is an act outside its core mandate of protecting the territorial integrity of the country.
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”The act of using ordinarily innocent junior military personnel to performing illegal duties like watching over unoccupied personal lands or the like must not be tolerated, irrespective of the self restraint of the latter”
Igali further called on Tinubu to direct the respective security and law enforcement authorities to fully investigate the incident and bring those involved to book.
”This will preserve the professionalism in the military and guarantee respect for constituted civil authority, which is the most basic foundation for building a stable, virile democracy where the law rules at all times.”
Igali insisted that the person of the FCT minister must be fully protected from such overzealousness, as he continued to carry out his assigned duties with personal passion and zeal.
