A lot has been written and said about the recent disgraceful outing of the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), of the Western Naval Command of the Nigerian Navy, Rear Admiral Harry Arogundade, in which six of his Naval ratings acting on his orders had beaten up a harmless Nigerian lady and citizen black and blue.

Their action caused her unimaginable physical and emotional injury, particularly by stripping her naked (the highest form of indignity a woman can be subjected to publicly). Other occupants of their victim's vehicle were as well caused unimaginable physical and psychological injury by the way the Naval ratings reportedly conducted themselves.

Once again, Nigerians have shown that not only do they know their rights as citizens and human beings, but that never would they allow any violation of it in any kind, whether by the so called "powerful people" or the over-celebrated "untouchables."

They have demonstrated that by the nationwide condemnation of the act.

However, beyond all that has been said, one very important question that we have all failed to ask is this; "What if Miss Uzoma Okere, the victim, had died in the process of this act of brutalisation?" "What if she had no father (by the way her father has a military background as well) to intervene and save her life?" These are very serious questions that should necessarily agitate our minds, given the spate and rate of extra-judicial killings by personnel of the Force in this country.

Ours is a country where day in day out, the people are inundated with tales of how innocent and hapless citizens are killed by policemen and other law enforcement agents in uniform, with such cases usually being swept under the carpet, while these lawless officers go scot-free; going about flexing their muscles. It is trite to say that this misfortune that befell Miss Okere is not unusual in this country. Available records show that it is now more of a norm for citizens to be daily harassed by supposed officers of the law, under various ridiculous guises. It was simply hell under Military regime, but not even the coming of democratic government has changed anything. It is on record that policemen still harass motorists ceaselessly all because they have refused to part with the usual N20 or more; that these same policemen in their bullion van convoy still whip hapless drivers mercilessly, all in the name of claiming their right of way, while soldiers who are supposed to be confined to their barracks equally go about brutalising those they call "bloody civilians", all because they want to show off as men in uniform.

From account of how Miss Okere was brutalised, one learnt that it was not until after the said lady was able to get across to her father, that her torture stopped, and she was released. Is it not correct for one to submit that principal above any other thing, the position of her father as a former colleague of the Admiral, and that he formerly wore the rank of a Colonel in the Army, and now the Sergeant-at-Arms in the National Assembly, did aid her quick release? The truth here is simply that if Miss Uzoma Okere had been the daughter of an ordinary Nigerian who had no connection in high places, she would have spent days in a Military guardroom, while this gross violation of her rights, would have continued unabated.

It is quite instructive to say at this juncture that the reason for this latest act of violation of right by soldiers is not far fetched. One must say that Soldiers and other Armed personnel in this country see themselves as above the law, and not bloody civilians that should operate within the framework of the law. As far as they are concerned, the uniform they wear gives them immunity from obeying the law and that even if they violate it, that they are not subject to the usual law enforcement agencies like the police, or the conventional courts.

However, they are seriously mistaken in this regard, as the uproar and Civil Rights action that has followed this latest miscarriage of theirs has clearly shown that they are not immune from obeying the law.

This writer is of the considered opinion that civil rights groups in the country should ensure that this gross violation of Miss Okere's right is reversed immediately, while all those involved in the disgraceful act should be brought under the full weight of the law. They should disregard the lip-service talk by the Naval authorities that the matter will be thoroughly investigated, as that is nothing but a last minute act to save their already tarnished image. The Naval High Command will simply sweep the matter under the carpet, under the guise of treating it as a Military affair. After all, Harry Arogundade as a Rear Admiral is a part of the top echelon of the Nigerian Navy, and thus one of their own who they won't want to be disgraced. But don't the Navy know that they've been disgraced already by the act of the Admiral? And to say the least, the Admiral's continued silence on the matter, as if nothing has happened is highly condenmable and speaks volume of the mind set of those of them in positions of authority in the Nigerian Forces. Anyway, the onus is now on this poor lady to see that once and for all, the high and mighty are told that they are not above other citizens in the country. Let Miss Uzoma Okere pursue the enforcement of her fundamental human right in the High Court to a logical conclusion and get the damages proportionate to what she has suffered. This will serve as a deterrent to any other ego tripping, power drunk military officer in the nearest future.