Revealed: How Wike Allegedly Used Forged Court Order to Detain AGIS Official Over Leaked Land Scandal

Fresh allegations have surfaced against the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, over the detention of a civil servant linked to the leaked documents exposing a multibillion-naira land allocation scandal involving the minister’s two sons.

Mairiga Hassan Shaharu, an official at the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), was reportedly detained last Friday at the FCDA Police Post on the orders of Wike’s Chief Security Officer (CSO). Shaharu was accused of leaking sensitive documents that reportedly showed the minister allocated thousands of hectares of Abuja land to companies associated with his sons, Jordan and Joaquin Wike.

However, prominent rights activist and publisher Omoyele Sowore has refuted the basis of the detention, describing it as illegal and politically motivated. In a statement shared late Wednesday, Sowore revealed that Shaharu has no access to the internal systems used to process land approvals, making it impossible for him to have leaked the documents in question.

Sowore, who visited the police facility alongside human rights lawyers Rosemary Hamza and A.K. Musa, stated that officers failed to provide any lawful basis for Shaharu’s detention. According to Sowore, a court order presented by the police was allegedly forged.

“One of the lawyers briefly saw the supposed court order and found it was signed by a magistrate who no longer serves in the jurisdiction,” Sowore said. “This is a clear case of forgery and abuse of power.”

Despite demands for Shaharu’s release, senior police officers reportedly stated that they could not act without direct orders from Wike’s CSO, further deepening concerns about the political nature of the detention.

After several hours of pressure from the legal team, the CSO claimed that the matter was now in the hands of the FCT Commissioner of Police, Wale Ajao. When contacted, CP Ajao allegedly maintained that the detention was backed by a valid court order, which Sowore insists is false.

In a dramatic twist, the CSO later called Sowore, saying the minister wanted to meet with both the activist and the detained civil servant at his office. Sowore rejected the invitation, questioning why someone would be detained over documents if no wrongdoing had occurred.

“If Wike never allocated land to his children, why is someone being detained for leaking documents that supposedly don’t exist?” Sowore asked.

The case comes on the heels of a damning investigative report that showed Wike allegedly approved the allocation of over 3,800 hectares of prime Abuja land—valued at more than \$6 billion—to companies linked to his two sons, aged 25 and 23. The exposé has ignited widespread public outrage and calls for an independent investigation.

Rights groups and legal advocates have joined the call for Mairiga Shaharu’s immediate release, condemning the detention as an attempt to intimidate whistleblowers and silence critics.

As of press time, neither the FCT Minister nor his spokesperson had issued a formal statement addressing the latest allegations. The FCT Police Command has also yet to provide clarity on the status and legal basis of Shaharu’s detention.