Nyesom Wike is a Minister of the Federal Republic & an appointee of the President. He is neither a police officer nor a bailiff.
A lot of people who claim to be lawyers go about this thing with no regard for law.
Wike was plainly on the wrong side of everything: law, common sense, decorum, & ministerial propriety.
The only thing he had on his side was alcohol.
Wike had no right to be where he was. There is no ministerial right or power to enter land in adverse possession without a court order.
Ideological purists like me may quarrel with it but a lot of people forget that s. 33(2)(a) of the Nigerian constitution grants a right to kill lawfully in defence of property rights & effective possession is an intangible property right.
Wike was a trespasser using force to enter land in adverse possession & without lawful Court order or warrant. He was on a mission of Ministerial Vigilantism.
He was lucky to come out without injury or worse.
An officer of less discipline or one who takes Johnnie Walker for breakfast – like Wike – may have been less parsimonious with a projectile. The Shiites in Zaria did a lot less & see what happened to them.
I am not sure people realize what amount of trouble this puts Wike in. This affects the authority of the president as C-in-C. The officer corps will be looking out for how the C-in-C handles this.
In case anyone wonders who wrote this, my name is Chidi Anselm Odinkalu.
This nonsense has to stop!
