FCT Minister Nyesom Wike says he narrowly escaped a blackmail plot in which a man falsely claimed his son collected $2m in exchange for land allocation.
Wike Reveals How He Escaped $2m Blackmail Plot Involving His Son
Speaking at a media parley on Thursday, Wike said a man told the Department of State Services he handed his son $2m at night in exchange for a land favour, according to Punch.
Wike said the claim unravelled after a Presidential Villa contact alerted him and his security aide had the man arrested. Investigators found his son had actually left Nigeria on a British Airways flight the same morning the alleged night-time payment was said to have occurred, a discovery confirmed after police contacted the airline.
Wike said he was later approached to quietly settle the matter but refused, calling it “cheap blackmail.”
He cited the episode to argue that public officials are frequent targets of fabricated claims meant to force concessions, drawing a parallel to allegations made by Adeyemi against Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila. Adeyemi has accused Gbajabiamila of demanding a share of a N27.4bn grant tied to the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, claims the Presidency has dismissed. Adeyemi is separately facing forgery charges in court, with his next hearing set for July 27, while Gbajabiamila’s lawyers have threatened a N10bn defamation suit.
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