Fresh controversy has hit the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) as the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has been accused of using a forged court order to detain Mairiga Hassan Shaharu, a staff member of the Federal Capital Development Administration (FCDA).
Mairiga was allegedly detained over leaked documents that exposed illegal land allocations made by the Minister to his two sons.
The revelation was made Thursday night by human rights activist and former African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore.
Sowore alleged that the forged court order used to justify Mairiga’s detention originated from a magistrate who no longer presides in the relevant jurisdiction.
He called the act a gross abuse of power and a violation of Mairiga’s rights, urging the relevant authorities to investigate the matter and ensure justice is served.
According to Sowore, Mairiga was unlawfully detained last Friday at the FCDA Police Post on the instructions of Wike’s CSO. The documents Mairiga was accused of leaking were first published by the Peoples Gazette, exposing questionable land allocations by the Minister.
Sowore pointed out that Mairiga does not even have access to the Land Department’s internal systems, noting that his role is limited to handling new land applications, not approvals or allocations.
On Thursday night, Sowore said he visited the FCDA Police Post alongside two human rights lawyers, Rosemary Hamza and AK Musa. They were later joined by a third lawyer who had previously tried — without success — to secure Mairiga’s release.
According to the lawyers, the CSO used a forged court order to detain Mairiga. The Investigating Police Officer (IPO) in charge of the case refused to show them the order.
However, one of the lawyers managed to briefly view the document and discovered it was purportedly issued by a magistrate who no longer presides in the jurisdiction — a clear indication of forgery and abuse of office.
Sowore said after nearly three hours of back-and-forth communication, Wike’s CSO claimed they could not locate the IPO. But according to Sowore, this was merely a ruse to delay proceedings.
A senior female officer at the police post, who had been summoned from Karu to calm tensions, reportedly stated that she lacked the authority to release Mairiga because he was considered “Wike’s personal detainee.”
Later, the CSO allegedly called back, saying that Wike had now handed over the case to the FCT Commissioner of Police, CP Wale Ajao — the same officer recently criticised for helping imprison a TikToker on behalf of Senator Ned Nwoko and his wife, Regina Daniels.
Sowore stated that he called CP Ajao directly, but the commissioner insisted the detention was based on a valid court order — apparently unaware that the forgery had already been discovered.
“He repeated the usual excuse: ‘Go to court,'” Sowore said.
In a surprising twist, Wike’s CSO reportedly called again, saying the Minister wanted Sowore and the detained FCDA staff to meet him at his office the following morning.
Sowore stated, “Eventually, the CSO called back and claimed Wike had changed his mind. He said the matter was now “beyond” him as it was now in the hands of the FCT Police Commissioner, CP Wale Ajao, the same Commissioner of the Nigeria Police Force who recently helped imprison a TikToker on behalf of Senator Prince Ned Nwoko and his youngest wife, Regina Daniels.
“I called CP Ajao directly, but he pretended the detention was based on a valid court order—unaware that we had already confirmed the order was fake. He repeated the same tactic, “Go to court.”
“Then came the most brazen move, Wike’s CSO called again and said Wike himself wants to see me at his office tomorrow morning alongside the detained worker. I asked him if he even knew who he was speaking to. I told him flatly, Wike couldn’t have summoned me, he knew better not to make such a mistake and I will not be visiting his office.
“Before ending the call, I asked the CSO, ‘If Wike never allocated land to his children, why is someone being detained for leaking documents that supposedly don’t exist?’”
“Wike should be the one under investigation for allocating public lands to his children, a clear criminal conduct, not Citizen Mairiga,” Sowore added.
Background
On June 26, SaharaReporters reported that Wike had been accused of abusing his office to allocate sprawling hectares of Abuja’s most valuable lands to his son, Joaquin Wike.
This was revealed in an exclusive report by The Peoples Gazette, which cited inside sources and official documents to support this staggering abuse of power orchestrated by the FCT Minister.
The report revealed that Wike, the immediate former Rivers State governor, since assuming office in August 2023, had signed off on over 2,000 hectares of prime real estate to his son.
It revealed that to achieve this, the Minister bypassed regulations and skipped payment of critical fees, contrary to the Nigerian Constitution and civil service ethics.
The Peoples Gazette stated that these allocations span some of Abuja’s most exclusive districts, including Maitama, Asokoro, Guzape, Bwari, and Gaduwa. This amounts to roughly 2,082 hectares or about 40,000 plots, with an estimated market value of $3.6 billion.
“When we told the Minister in April that he needed to slow down on frequent allocations to his own children, he said he was just starting because his goal was to make them the largest landowners in Abuja,” an aide told Peoples Gazette, requesting anonymity.
“We’ve worked with ministers before him, but we have never seen anything even remotely comparable to this.”
Documents obtained by Peoples Gazette indicate that the allocations were made in the name of a company, Joaq Farms and Estates Ltd, which was registered on October 10, 2024, just days before it began receiving land allocations from Mr Wike.
On October 17, 2024, Wike allocated 350 hectares to Joaq Farms under file number 155882 and certificate of occupancy number 0000162.
The company’s registered address, 13, Thaba Tseka Street, Wuse II (misspelled in the documents as “Theba”), has long been linked to the minister’s personal business fronts, according to the report.
In further revelations, records show that Wike personally signed six certificates of occupancy for Joaquin’s company on February 25, 2025, bearing file numbers 159134, 159136, 159137, 159138, 159139, and 159140.
A seventh file, 159135, was also said to belong to Joaq Farms but could not be obtained by the newspaper. As recently as May 30, Wike reportedly signed off on 2.3 hectares in the booming Gaduwa District, reinforcing allegations that his son is being strategically positioned to dominate the Federal Capital Territory’s real estate wealth.
Wike also allegedly seized land from the Austrian Embassy in the Central Area, reallocating the prized plots to himself in another controversial move highlighted by the Peoples Gazette.
Sources familiar with the transactions told Peoples Gazette that Wike deliberately avoided paying ground rent, registration, and survey fees, further violating the Code of Conduct for Public Officers as outlined in the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution.
Officials stated that Joaquin Wike, the Minister’s youngest son, who finished high school in 2020, could conservatively earn over $3.6 billion from the lands.
“He has certificates of occupancy for all the lands, that’s what makes it even more lucrative,” one official said.
The documents revealed that five plots out of the 2.3 hectares allocated in Gaduwa were forcibly taken from a middle-class Nigerian family, who refused to comment for fear of retaliation.
Despite his position, the FCT administration under Wike owes salaries across multiple departments under the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), including broadcasting, water, and environmental protection units, with many workers unpaid for several months.
A spokesman for the minister, Lere Olayinka, told Peoples Gazette he was unaware of the land allocations:
“I am not aware of any development as such and can’t give comments on what I don’t have knowledge of.”
The Peoples Gazette also reported that insiders in the Presidency are alarmed, but unsure how to rein in the powerful minister.
“Let me be honest with you and tell you that Nyesom Wike is a serious liability to the Tinubu administration,” a senior State House aide said. “While we’re focused on tackling the economy and insecurity, he’s busy seizing lands from Abuja residents and reallocating them to himself.”
The aide admitted that President Bola Tinubu might hesitate to discipline Wike before the next general election.
“The president would eventually have to decide on what to do with the minister,” the aide noted. “But predicting whether that is going to be before or after the election is beyond my service charge.”
Meanwhile, primary school teachers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been on strike since March 24, 2025, due to the non-implementation of the N70,000 national minimum wage, along with unpaid salary arrears and other allowances.
Source: Sahara Reporters
