A problem child?
•Military authorities must call Lt. Muhammad Yerima to order He came into national prominence or, better still, notoriety, when, late last year, he led a number of other naval officers
•Military authorities must call Lt. Muhammad Yerima to order
He came into national prominence or, better still, notoriety, when, late last year, he led a number of other naval officers in denying the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, access to a private property in Abuja, in the course of the latter’s pursuit of his official duties. It did not appear to matter that Lt. Adam Muhammad Yerima was on illegal duty at the time, guarding the prime piece of land purportedly owned by a retired Chief of Naval Staff who had no proven proprietary claims over the property.
Neither did it seem to be of any import that the retired naval chief had no right to the services of military officers as if he was still in office, or that the FCT Minister was discharging his delegated responsibilities as legal custodian of every inch of land in Abuja.
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Those who harboured misgivings against Wike for political reasons or hated his sometimes avoidable brash approach to his duties; top serving and retired military officers probably motivated by esprit de corps expressed unreserved support for the naval officer’s insubordination.
Bouyed by this approbation of inexcusable misbehaviour, Lt Yerima, unsurprisingly, soon after exhibited total disregard for a police patrol team carrying out its routine official duties in Abuja. Driving an ash-coloured Toyota Camry car with concealed number plate, and fully tinted glasses in the Kubwa area of the FCT, the police team had flagged the vehicle to a stop and asked the driver, Yerima, to identify himself.
As the FCT Command of the police reported the incident, “The occupant, however, refused to identify himself, proceeded to make several calls, and wound up his tinted windows, declining to engage with the police team. A few minutes later, three naval personnel arrived at the location and cordially identified the occupant of the vehicle as their colleague... Following this confirmation, the police team allowed the vehicle to proceed”. Yerima was later to put up a spurious claim that he escaped an assassination attempt in Abuja, a tale promptly debunked by the police.
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And, as if indicating that he has become a problem child of the Nigerian military, Lt Yerima was, last November, reportedly involved in another face-off with aviation officials at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. The officer was said to have gained access to the boarding terminal of the facility through the military wing of the airport, thus avoiding the stipulated security screening guidelines mandatory for all passengers, not excluding VIPs. Yerima allegedly attempted to board a Valuejet aeroplane with his firearm on him, in flagrant violation of international civil aviation regulations.
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Global aviation rules to which Nigeria is a signatory state that no passenger is allowed to carry arms into the cabin of a commercial aircraft. Weapons, categorised as ‘dangerous goods’, must be submitted to airline officials and are only returned to the owners on arrival at the destination.
Although Yerima was initially reported to have accused the aviation officials of ‘disrespect’ for insisting that he deposit his weapon as required by the law, it is gratifying that he later complied with due process.
It has been observed that this attitude is common among military personnel who insist on carrying their personal firearms into aircraft, in violation of the rules. The inexplicably indulgent attitude of the military hierarchy to Lt. Yerima ‘s serial infractions is a disposition that encourages such indiscipline. Unconfirmed reports, for instance, allege that the military authorities officially wrote Valuejet airline accusing its officials of ‘disrespect’ for disallowing the officer to board with his weapon on him. If true, this is utterly condemnable.
We call on the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa, who retired at the apex of the military hierarchy, to lead the charge in mobilising the professional military leadership to accord priority to reorienting officers and their men to respect and obey stipulated laws and regulations as mandatory in a democracy.
