CLAIM: Nigerian Military Promotes Lt. Yerima After Incident With Wike
Nigerian social media influencer, VeryDarkMan has claimed that the naval personnel who had an altercation with the FCT minister, Lt. A. M. Yerima, has been promoted by the military. He made the claim on X with a collage picture of Lt. Yerima and some military men paying compliments. Its caption read, “Breaking News 🚨❤️❤️❤️ Lieutenant Yerimah finally received his promotion yesterday the 15th of November 2026. It is not even about his event with Wike . He has been a very disciplined and dedicated military officer . He is highly respected and is always leading . It is now clear that he is following the footsteps of his father General Yerimah . Great works will always be rewarded . If you like , remain Wike (Wicked ) .”
When this report was published, the post had about 60,400 views and over 1,270 replies, reposts, quotes, likes and bookmarks. In the comment section, @WhizRaphidoo said “This is not even true, where is the Yerima? The old Naval Officer there abi the Nigerian Army officer in ceremonials? Navy no dey wear Army Ceremonials, it not true” while @SirKen2020 wrote “Lie. A naval officer can not wear green suit”.
VERIFICATION
NV-A conducted a reverse Google image search on the collage image and found out that the images were gotten from a footage of “change of flag ceremony of Nigerian Navy ship, KADA, at Albwardy Damen shipyard, Sharjah, UAE,” which happened in 2022.
NNS KADA is a Landing Ship Tank (LST 100) acquired by the Nigerian Navy. The ship was built by Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding in Sharjah, UAE. The contract for its construction was signed in May 2018 as part of the Nigerian Navy’s fleet recapitalisation. On March 30, 2022, the official handover of the ship to the Nigerian Navy occurred, and a change-of-flag ceremony (i.e., raising the Nigerian flag) was held in April 2022 at the Albwardy Damen Shipyard in Sharjah, UAE.
The coverage of Lieutenant Yerima has centred on a face-off with FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, not on any promotion. In a statement, the Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru, said the military will “protect” Lt. Yerima if he was acting on lawful duty. Similarly, the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, also defended Yerima, saying he acted on orders and that there would be no disciplinary action.
There are no reports of a promotion for Lieutenant A. M. Yerima from mainstream Nigerian media, military press releases, or defence-ministry statements. Also, the date in the claim is 15 November 2026 and since Lt. Yerima has been in the news following the altercation with Wike, any confirmed or intended promotion would have generated a media buzz.
The document attached here gives further insight into how promotions are being carried out in the Nigerian military.
CONCLUSION
The claim that Yerima has been promoted by the military is FALSE. There is no evidence from the mainstream media and military press releases. Also, the images uploaded with claim are from a 2022 footage of “change of flag ceremony of Nigerian Navy ship, KADA, at Albwardy Damen shipyard in Sharjah, UAE”.
