Written by Abdulwahab Abdulah Friday, 14 November 2008
The attack by some Naval ratings on Miss Uzoma Okeke has been regarded as an assault that needed to be redress. Already, the victim, is battling to get justice where ever it comes. However, joining her in the struggle to ensure that she did not suffer in vain from the jackboots of the Naval men and that such act does not repeat tiself, two non-governmental organisations have called for an immediate judicial probe into the incident to ascertain the conduct of the six Naval ratings and the role their boss, Admiral Henry Arogundade played in the saga. The Organisations, the Real Woman Foundation (TRWF) and Women Arise (WA) headed by Pastor Nike Adeyemi and Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin respectively in a joint press briefing in Lagos said such attacks by uniform men on innocent Nigerians is becoming an attack too many which needed to be checked unless innocent Nigerians will continue to suffer in silence without a solution.
Condemning the recent attack on Miss Okeke, the gender organisations said the probe into the act must be total and those proven to have participated directly or indirectly be brought to justice. Appealing to Nigerians not to allow the issue to be swept under the carpet, they requested that an adequate compensation has to be paid to Uzoma Okeke to cover her medical bills and the public humiliation she had suffered in the course of the incident.
The organisations said they decided to stand up for justice for the victim because lives of all citizens are meaningful to them and the failure to redress the recent act of the military men would lead to another one in the near future. “We condemn this brazen assault and humiliation of this young lady by these power drunk men. It is a violation of the right to dignity as enshrined in the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
They argued “there is no justification for this maniac display of power by these naval ratings. They must have been emboldened to carry out this dastardly act because others have gone scot-free with barbaric actions in the past.”
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