In a judgment that is certain to go a long way in curbing the excesses of the men in uniform, a Lagos State High Court Judge, Justice Opeyemi Oke, recently ordered Rear Admiral Harry Arogundade and the Nigerian Navy to pay a hefty sum of N100 million as damages for assaulting a young Nigerian lady, Uzoma Okere, and her colleague, Abdullahi Abdulazeez.

They were both brutally assaulted on November 3, 2008 by four naval ratings for allegedly obstructing Arogundade’s convoy, which was caught up in a traffic snarl. The ratings did not only beat up Okere, they stripped her naked in public for her alleged refusal to pull her car off the road for their boss’s convoy to have an unhindered passage. When Abdulazeez, who was in the car with Okere, intervened, he was equally manhandled, while Arogundade, in apparent approval of the ratings’ actions, sat in the car and watched.

Commendably, the Director of the Office of the Public Defender in Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Omotolola Rotimi, acting on a directive from the State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, took up the case to enforce the rights of the victims.

Justice Oke must have been filled with righteous indignation as she delivered her judgment, which relied predominantly on documentary evidence. She captured the dastardly acts of Arogundade and the naval ratings – C. I. Jeremiah, S. A. Bullen, S. A. Kariga and Francis Okolagu – whom she said ought to face psychiatric tests to ascertain their level of sanity. “I saw a young lady being assaulted by four officers in naval uniform. For those who witnessed the incident and how the applicant (Okere) was stripped naked at her upper anatomy, some riot thoughts would have gone through their minds,” said the enraged judge. Besides, she continued, “Those who saw her will be able to tell the size of her bra. A private property now becomes the object of the public.”

Arguably the most dependable arm of government in our current democratic dispensation, the judiciary has once again demonstrated its capacity to deliver justice to the oppressed. Okere’s case follows the trend set by Justice Tijani Abubakar of Federal High Court in Lagos who, in May last year, awarded N100 million “general and aggravated damages” to Mr. Mike Igbokwe, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who was similarly assaulted by soldiers at the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway four years earlier.

Significantly, Rotimi dedicated the judgment to the memory of a relation who was beaten to death in similar circumstances. Rotimi’s position is a testimony to the widespread nature of the brutality and bestiality of the men in uniform, be they police officers, air force men or soldiers.

What is however disturbing is that naval officers, hitherto regarded as the most gentlemanly, refined and urbane of all members of the armed forces, have now degenerated to the level where assault against the civilian populace no longer constitutes an aberration. For instance, in 2005, there was a report of how a naval officer came out of his car and placed a pistol in the mouth of a commercial motorcyclist, before pulling the trigger.

Although Justice Oke rightly described the ratings as unfit to wear the uniform, the same could also be said of Arogundade on whose behalf the ratings acted. Arogundade’s action follows an established pattern among public office holders in the country who use their position to oppress the downtrodden in the society. Rather than create a conducive environment for all road users, they prefer the use of siren to free themselves from chaotic traffic situations. Even when the roads are free, they believe their sense of importance can only be announced by the use of siren.

If Okere and Igbokwe had not taken the bold steps of heading for the court to enforce their rights, they would not have got a redress. Nigerians must realise that men in uniform are ordinary Nigerians who are subject to the same laws that govern every citizen. The uniform they wear, the guns they carry and the salary that sustains them come from taxpayers’ money. They therefore have no right to lord it over other Nigerians. Being too weak financially should not be an excuse for their failure to enforce their rights. Civil society groups must always be on the lookout for such deprived Nigerians to ensure that their rights are not abused with impunity.