NEWS
How British Airways Records Foiled Alleged $2m Blackmail Plot Against Me — Wike
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has revealed how he narrowly escaped what he described as a fabricated $2 million blackmail plot involving his son and a purported land allocation in Abuja.
Speaking during a media parley on Thursday, Wike said an individual falsely alleged that he paid $2 million to one of his sons in exchange for securing a land allocation in the Federal Capital Territory.
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According to the minister, the alleged blackmailer claimed that his son had called him to ask if land was available before the payment was made.
“As I’m sitting as the minister of FCT, somebody has done that, claiming that he knows my children, and that there was a day that he was with my son, and that my son called dad, ‘Is any land available?’, and I said yes. And that they gave him two million U.S. dollars. So look at the game,” Wike said.
Wike disclosed that the alleged scheme came to his attention after someone at the Presidential Villa alerted him to documents containing the claims that were being circulated.
“Somebody called me from the Villa that he has this thing going on. I said, ‘What is that?’ He said, ‘Oh, you get this document for me.’ Somebody’s trying to do it. I said, ‘Okay, no problem.’ I sent my CSO: ‘Go and get this person.’ We got him arrested. He said that two million was given at night, that’s 9 p.m., 8 p.m., two million dollars,” he said.
The FCT minister explained that investigators quickly dismantled the allegation after establishing that his son had travelled out of Nigeria on a British Airways flight on the morning of the day the alleged payment was said to have taken place.
“But see how, unknown to him, that day in the morning, my son travelled on British Airways. Meanwhile, the money was given at night. So we had to tell the police. They went to British Airways, everything,” he added.
Wike also revealed that he was later advised by some individuals to quietly resolve the matter to avoid public embarrassment, but he rejected the suggestion.
“One of them came to me and said, ‘Look, before it embarrasses you, why not settle it?’ I said, ‘Settle what? Settle what? This is cheap blackmail. I will not allow that.’ And we didn’t do it,” he said.
The minister said the incident highlights how senior government officials are often targeted with fabricated allegations aimed at damaging their reputations or forcing them into concessions.
Drawing a comparison with allegations recently made by Adewale Adeyemi against the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, Wike argued that genuine allegations should be presented to security agencies rather than aired through the media.
“There are people you target in government to do bad thing to the boss. This is chief of staff. This is the person who is in charge of finance and secretary to government. If you want to embarrass any government, this is the first target,” he said.
Questioning Adeyemi’s approach, Wike added: “If it was indeed correct, eyeball to eyeball, go to the security agency. Look at my communications with him. Look at the phone I’ve been talking with him. These are what we have done.”
The controversy involving Adeyemi began on June 25, when he accused Gbajabiamila of demanding 48 per cent of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council’s (PFIPC) alleged ₦27.4 billion take-off grant and receiving ₦400 million through proxies linked to appointments within the agency.
The Presidency has maintained that the PFIPC is fictitious, although reports indicate the council secured office space at the Federal Secretariat, opened Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) accounts and received a ₦1.3 billion allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
President Bola Tinubu has directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the matter within 30 days.
Meanwhile, Adeyemi is standing trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja on forgery charges, including allegedly forging an appointment letter bearing Gbajabiamila’s signature.
He is expected back in court on July 27, while Gbajabiamila’s legal team has threatened him with a ₦10 billion defamation suit, describing the allegations as “false and gravely defamatory.”
Although the Presidency has expressed confidence in Gbajabiamila, civil society organisations, including the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), as well as human rights lawyer Femi Falana, have called for an independent investigation into the allegations involving both men.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has departed Abuja for Jos, Plateau State, alongside his wife, Hajiya Nana Shettima, ahead of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign rally in the state.
The visit is part of the Tinubu–Shettima campaign’s engagements as the ruling party seeks to secure support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Shettima ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The campaign’s visit to Plateau is expected to highlight the Federal Government’s infrastructure and economic development projects in the state, particularly those aimed at improving road connectivity, boosting commerce and supporting agricultural activities.
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Among the projects highlighted by the administration is the ongoing 125-kilometre Akwanga–Jos highway, which forms part of the Akwanga–Bauchi–Gombe–Maiduguri Superhighway.
Other projects include the rehabilitation of the Sharram–Garram–Babban Lamba Road in Kanke and the approved Mararaban Jama’a–Kanke–Langtang–Shendam–Ibi Road, which is expected to improve connectivity between Plateau and Taraba states.
The administration says the projects are part of its broader development agenda to connect communities, facilitate access to markets and provide farmers and businesses with improved infrastructure.
The APC campaign is expected to use the rally to present the administration’s achievements and future plans while seeking the confidence of Plateau residents to continue its development agenda beyond 2027.
The Ogun State Police Command has presented cheques totalling ₦10.65 million to families and next-of-kin of deceased police officers who served under the command, as part of efforts to support dependants of personnel who died in active service.
The cheques, amounting to ₦10,658,391.36, were presented on Saturday, November 14, 2026, by the Commissioner of Police, CP Bode Ojajuni, on behalf of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu.
The statement was signed by the Police Public Relations Officer of the Ogun State Command, DSP Oluseyi B. Babaseyi, anipr, and dated November 14, 2026.
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The presentation took place at the Command Headquarters in Eleweran, Abeokuta, under the Nigeria Police Force Group Life Assurance and the IGP Family Welfare Schemes.
The initiatives are designed to provide financial assistance to families of police officers who lost their lives while serving the country.
Accompanied by members of the Command Management Team, Ojajuni personally handed over the cheques to the beneficiaries.
Addressing the recipients, the police commissioner reaffirmed the Inspector-General’s commitment to the welfare of police personnel and their families.
He described the widows and families of the deceased officers as the “true superheroes”, acknowledging their resilience in coping with the loss of their loved ones who died in service to the nation.
Ojajuni noted that the financial intervention was a demonstration of the Force’s appreciation and institutional responsibility to support the families of fallen officers.
He said the initiative represented the Nigeria Police Force’s enduring commitment to standing by the dependants of personnel who paid the ultimate price in active service.
Responding on behalf of the beneficiaries, Mrs Ejembi Ada Veronica thanked the Inspector-General of Police and the Ogun State Police Command for remembering their families and providing financial assistance.
She assured the authorities that the money would be channelled towards the education, upkeep and general welfare of the children and dependants left behind by the deceased officers.
According to her, the intervention would provide timely relief and help improve the stability of the affected families.
The Ogun State Police Command reiterated its commitment to supporting the families of fallen officers, assuring them of its continued solidarity.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has screened 28 oil and gas wells around reported gas seepage locations in Bille Community, Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State, identifying three as high-risk, as investigations continue to establish the source of the bubbling gas.
The Commission disclosed that its investigation team physically visited 14 of the 28 wells screened but could not access three others because they were submerged. During the visits, the team observed gas hissing from some wells, while some facilities were found to be corroded and others vandalised.
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The update was made on Thursday during a special technical paper presentation at the 44th Annual International Conference and Exhibition of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE).
The paper, titled “Unravelling Gas Seepage and Bubbling in Nigeria: The Integrated Study Approach Towards Source Attribution,” was hosted by the NUPRC.
In his presentation, the Director of Subsurface Development at the NUPRC, Engr. Joseph Ogunsola, FNSE, described gas seepage as a new phenomenon in the Nigerian petroleum industry, prompting the Commission to constitute a team to investigate what lies beneath the bubbles.
Ogunsola was represented by the Senior Manager, Onshore Frontier Development Drilling, Mr. Azibamikiomam John-Adumo, a geologist.
He disclosed that studies conducted in one of the affected areas had helped unravel the structural threat associated with the phenomenon.
According to him, one of the wells was originally drilled in search of oil but was shut down following the discovery of gas instead.
He explained that the well is approximately 2.5 kilometres from the seepage location, adding that investigations are ongoing to establish whether the seepage originates from that particular well or other nearby wells.
He further disclosed that the distance between the seepage location and other wells ranges from 2.5 to three kilometres, noting that the area is highly explored and hydrocarbon-charged, as demonstrated by the number of wells in the vicinity.
Providing an update on the wells workstream, which falls under the facility and infrastructure component of the investigation, John-Adumo said the 28 wells were screened based on their proximity to the seepage locations and the reservoirs traversed during drilling.
He also explained that the investigation had progressed from the first reported bubble to an independent fingerprinting campaign within 12 months.
Recalling that the first seepage was observed in October 2025, he said the results of the independent investigation, using Gas Chromatography-Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (GC-IRMS) and compositional field analysis, were expected in the fourth quarter of 2026.
While investigations continue, John-Adumo said the Commission and operators had mobilised relief materials and other support for affected communities.
The interventions include food supplies, medical outreach, efforts to provide potable water, fire vans and safety kits, among other assistance.
He, however, warned that if the seepage is established to be a natural geological phenomenon, residents may need to be evacuated because tracing the migration pathways and designing subsurface interventions could be much more challenging.
He reiterated the Commission’s commitment to a speedy, coordinated and integrated investigation to establish the source of the gas seepage.
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