Lt. Yerima: Police Dismisses Assassination Attempt on Naval Officer Who Stood Up To Wike

By Adesina Soyooye

In a swift action to calm rising tension, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Police Command, has dismissed the viral story that Navy Lt. Ahmed Yerima escaped an assassination attempt.

Lt. Yerima, recall, is the young Navy Officer who stole the hearts of not a few Nigerians by his composure, discipline and courage when he stood up to the FCT Minister, Nyesom  Wike, who tried to bully him, called him a fool,  and asked him to shut up, when, acting on orders, the Lt refused access to Wike and his demolition squad, to a building project of a retired Chief of Navy Staff.

Wike had stormed the site to bulldoze the project when he met a stiff resistance mounted by the Navy. Frustrated, he descended to the use of foul language and choice words on the Officer. Wike called the officer a fool, and asked him to shut up. But the Officer simply replied: “I will not shut up. I am not a fool Sir. I am an officer. I have integrity.”

While most Nigerians have hailed the officer, a few has condemned him, (mainly for keeping guard at a private concern), the officer has the full support of his bosses, serving and retired, as well as two of Wike’s Ministerial colleagues.

However, not a few Nigerians were jolted Monday morning when news emerged on the social media that Lt Yerima had just escaped an assassination attempt in Abuja.

According to the viral news item, Yerima noticed two unmarked vehicles trailing him from NIPOCO Filling Station, along Gado Nasko Road, Kubwa, Abuja.

On noticing them, according to  the story, the Navy officer found a way to out-maneuvre them.

However, to stem the anxiety and tension, the

FCT Police Command

has quickly dismissed reports of any  attempted assassination attempt on

Lt.  Yerima  as entirely false.

The Police said the false alarm is capable of causing  public panic.

SP Josephine Adeh, spokesperson for the FCT Police Command, in a statement Sunday night, said that for clarification purposes, there is

no record or report

of an attack on the naval officer anywhere within the Abuja metropolis.

She said: “The Command wishes to categorically state that no such incident has been reported or recorded anywhere within the Federal Capital Territory. The public is advised to disregard this false information and desist from spreading unverified claims capable of causing unnecessary panic.”