Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike has responded to criticism over a remark he made during a live television interview in which he said he would have shot Seun Okinbaloye, a presenter with Channels Television, for comments the journalist made on air.
The comment came on Politics Today, a political affairs programme, when Okinbaloye raised concerns about Nigeria potentially drifting toward a one‑party state amid tensions within the African Democratic Congress. Wike said, “If there was any way to break the screen, I would have shot him,” a statement that quickly drew widespread reaction.
In a statement issued by Lere Olayinka, the minister’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Wike’s office said the remark was made in frustration and was meant figuratively, not as a genuine threat of violence. The statement added that Wike and Okinbaloye had spoken by phone and that the journalist understood the context in which it was said.
The clarification has not quelled criticism. Civil society and rights groups, including Amnesty International, and several press freedom organisations have condemned the comment as dangerous and urged Wike to retract and apologise. Former Vice‑President Atiku Abubakar and others described the language as reckless and a threat to democratic norms and protections for journalists.
