Watched that video some days ago - really disgusting.

But then, I got into an argument with a friend over this and he made a good point. The video only shows when she was already being harrassed, but do we know what happened before? It would be more ideal to make full enquiried before passing judgement.

That isnt to say I support anything seen on the video though.

@Hesperus,

What can make you beat a woman like that? Think of anything. For me Nothing can make me beat a woman like that!!!!

Nothing in this world should make anyone (Civilian) beat a woman like that.

Nothing (short of treason/terrorism) should make a UNIFORMED man beat any civilian like that!!!

Her offence does not count and you have no right to beat anyone like that.

Even if the woman slapped them which is the worst she can do. Would you have beaten her back?

@ DayoKanu, err. . .its Hesperus, you could look it up if you dont mind. Thank you!

Now back to the post. PLs dont get me wrong, I vehemently oppose d assault. In fact, i dont support assault by any uniformed personnel on civilians. But truth be told, sometimes we bring these things upon ourselves.

I read on the net again yesterday dat the girl in question is the daughter of a uniformed man who worked under former senate president Wabara, and he infact once supervised the beating and slapping of innocent Nigerians who went to the Senate to observe deliberations!

Classical case of Karma, you'd agree?

Sorry for that I have corrected it.

karma or not.

The road was blocked No one could move, I know that street very well and I know how it is in the evenings.

Blaring your siren would not achieve anything!!!

What could the girl have done to be beaten like that? If she was 2/3 months pregnant what do you think would have happened?

Miscarriage and possible death!!! Uniformed men beat up civilians everyday on the streets could they all be Karma?

I also know that street very well, my girlfriend works there.

Now look at it this way. Every soul in naija kows dat when you hear sirens, you clear. It is the same everywhere, jand, yankee, wherever. Siren usage in Naija has probably been abused, but dat is story for another day.

I personally do not want to believe dat those navy guys could have been that crude, right in the middle of VI. For Chrissakes,she's a girl,they dont do that! How do we know she didnt provoke them, believing that "daddy" would save her if any gbege happened?

I still stand on the fact that I am certainly not justifying their actions, but at the same time, it would seem as though she fueled the fire that consumed her.

Hesperus:

Watched that video some days ago - really disgusting.

But then, I got into an argument with a friend over this and he made a good point. The video only shows when she was already being harrassed, but do we know what happened before? It would be more ideal to make full enquiried before passing judgement.

That isnt to say I support anything seen on the video though.

My simple question is what is good about that point?

It is only in Nigeria (or Africa), that we would be hearing all manner of rubbish to justify all sorts of oppression. Even if the woman spat in their faces, it is no justification for the rough handling and stripping. If it was a civilised country, she would have been arrested had she assaulted law enforsement officers. But in this situation, the navy guys were not even acting within the law in the first place to go whipping people who do not move on time and not a single eye witness came out to say that the woman assaulted the men first. Hell, even if we are to believe the navy, in the initial press release by they made, it was said that the woman jumped out of her car and held on to the whip whilst challenging the rating for hitting her car with it (according to the victim, it was her person that was repeatedly whipped while she was in the car). So abeg no one should come and call what is black, white here.

@ lucabrasi
One of the things human beings have to check is the tendency to degrade to the character we are previously condeming, when we get to similar position.

The admirals daughter did NOT do ANYTHING to this case. what you are proposing is akin to what the admiral did and what u are condeming vigourously here- BULLYING

LET US SEPERATE FACTS HERE. You wont like to be on the receivng end of everything BAD that your father did, dont wish it on anybody. Am wondering what the girl will be feeling now.
also it will serve u well if u respect peoples privacy, posting somebody's personal email on a public site without the person's consent  TOTALLY wrong and treated as a criminal offence in some countries.

LET US NOT ALLOW OUR PASSION, (WHICH IS WELL INTENDED) TO BECLOUD OUR JUDGEMENT AND SENSE OF RIGHT.

cheers

na wa o 4 this country. its very sad. i knw say God go deal wit dt naval officer if dem wan 4get d matter.

@Naval Command

The Naval Command should court martial Olufemi Arogundade. These men was under the Command of Arogundade no body else. And why in the name of security should he have 6 heavily armed body guards in this day and time.

This is a waste in the security services. So when he retires like most of them will how does he make up for those security men. There is no need to extrapoliate this to mean the whole Nigeria LOVES THIS.

WE DONT NEED TO GLORIFY THIS EVIL. WE MUST DO THE RIGHT THING SIMPLY ASK FOR COURT MARTIAL. THE LADY SHOULD SUE THE NIGERIAN NAVY WITH THIS VIDEO CLIP.

THE REASONS WHY

1) The woman was not armed
2) They used brute forces
3) If they wanted to arrest her then what was the arrest mode?
4) Their commander was not in the center when no threat was established
5) From the clip it seemed like they were Abusing the high military honor.

If this is not punished

1) our kids will learn to maltreat people you must be in the forces
2) This is multiplying fear in the heart of the civil populace
3) That stripping a woman is right
4) This is means that the military sees the civillian as a subject (this is a colonial thinking)

God Bless Nigeria

NB
The Subject NAVAL OFFICERS SHOULD NOT be so those men were not officers they were NAVAL RATINGS

Backslider:

@Naval Command

The Naval Command should court martial Olufemi Arogundade. These men was under the Command of Arogundade no body else. And why in the name of security should he have 6 heavily armed body guards in this day and time.

This is a waste in the security services. So when he retires like most of them will how does he make up for those security men. There is no need to extrapoliate this to mean the whole Nigeria LOVES THIS.

WE don't NEED TO GLORIFY THIS EVIL. WE MUST DO THE RIGHT THING SIMPLY ASK FOR COURT MARTIAL. THE LADY SHOULD SUE THE NIGERIAN NAVY WITH THIS VIDEO CLIP.

THE REASONS WHY

1) The woman was not armed
2) They used brute forces
3) If they wanted to arrest her then what was the arrest mode?
4) Their commander was not in the center when no threat was established
5) From the clip it seemed like they were Abusing the high military honor.

If this is not punished

1) our kids will learn to maltreat people you must be in the forces
2) This is multiplying fear in the heart of the civil populace
3) That stripping a woman is right
4) This is means that the military sees the civillian as a subject (this is a colonial thinking)

God Bless Nigeria

NB
The Subject NAVAL OFFICERS SHOULD NOT be so those men were not officers they were NAVAL RATINGS

WONDERFUL. NA THIS MAN TEACH NIGERIANS HOW TO SEXUALLY ABUSE YOUNG GIRLS? NA HIM TEACH NIGERIANS HOW TO BEAT THIER WIVES?
NA WAO

ayomorocco:

My simple question is what is good about that point?

. So abeg no one should come and call what is black, white here.

What is good about the point?? Taking both parties into account, thats what is. Do you know what happened prior to the assault, were you there? Even the bible says it, a soft answer turneth away wrath and a harsh one stirs up anger. And where were the so-called cowards cum eye-witnesses who stood around and watched the entire drama? Everyone is quick to point out the injustices of the system, but nobody is willing to do a damn thing about it!

And since you're such an expert at colours, maybe you'd like to paint a clearer picture?

Hesperus:

What is good about the point?? Taking both parties into account, thats what is. Do you know what happened prior to the assault, were you there? Even the bible says it, a soft answer turneth away wrath and a harsh one stirs up anger. And where were the so-called cowards come eye-witnesses who stood around and watched the entire drama? Everyone is quick to point out the injustices of the system, but nobody is willing to do a damn thing about it!

And since you're such an expert at colours, maybe you'd like to paint a clearer picture?

bro, you are not preaching to the choir here. you are preaching to the guys who would never do such things if they ever came into such position. you are talking to people who are so morally upright they only curse and abuse people online. ofcourse you know this is nairaland. everyone jump on a band wagon trying to make some people see another side of the story is hard work.

even if the girl was from deeper life only God know what comes out of people like that

I have been following the thread silently but here I feel I must speak up

Please let us not lose focus here, this whole issue is about the wrongness of someone (irrespective of whoever the person's father or mother may be in society) being assaulted brutally by military personnel, i.e the abuse of power by people who have that power

And I have great news for you @Hesperus, we are obviously making progress, for instance the Lagos state government has banned the use of sirens by unauthorized people in Lagos.

Please we need to ignore people like @Hesperus that try to put doubt into our hearts.

PLEASE UNDERSTAND THIS, there is nothing short of a very serious crime committed by the girl that would warrant such a treatment and we all know she did not commit any serious offense. No decent law abiding Nigerian deserves to be treated like that, and the only way we can reduce such incidents is to make noise when such things happen, let our voices be heard loud and clear,LET OUR LEADERS KNOW WE WILL NO TAKE IT!!

That is the only way we can make Nigeria a little safer for ourselves and our children

p.s  @Hesperus if it was your mum, sister or girlfriend that was beaten black and blue like Uzoma, i doubt if you would be quite so "analytical" in your posts.

@hesperus shame on you for tryin to justify the actions of those animals,

rotimiorims:

i just resigned from the Nigerian Army, and i think this is sick!!! Why should i ever get so angry as to strike a woman. And eventhough i know that some girls could be extremely DAFT sometimes; you know, provoke men who deserve their respect, or at least, ''Reserve'' (if that word exists), there's still no excuse for those Naval Ratings. Any case, this scenerio looks plain to me: you was just fighting for her right that's all. I could be wrong, but it really doesn't matter.

OK here's something quick for the men/guys on this forum:

1. never try to force a woman's respect, but don't make OBVIOUS efforts to EARN it either.
the stupid ones see your efforts as foolishness, and you need to just ignore those kind of women, really.

2. Even if a man is ever going to be in a fight, it makes more sense in the long run to loose a fight to someone much bigger, stronger than you, than to crush someone smaller. But in Nigeria, these days, we have a twisted philosophy

3. when ever a girl starts insulting you (WITHOUT CAUSE), if you must, say something witty that puts her in her place and leave the scene so that she can yell at the back of your head like a wild animal. You don't have to APPEAR to have ''WON''.

Be a man.

God bless u, thatz brilliant!

oh damn,
whats up with nigeria

I think majority of this forum is getting me wrong. I mean, I cant have overemphasized my disdain at the act, and I have stated over and over again, it is definitely wrong. (read my previous posts)

@rotimiorims. You say the people who stood by and watched were not cowards? Why? Yes the men assaulting her are the ones supposed to protect us. As you said, the people around could do nothin but report. Which is exactly what the girl in question should have done. Please pple, let us be realisitc here. This scenario is not peculiar to Naija alone, there is police brutality everywhere, even in developed countries. In such situations, truth be told, the man with the gun has d upperhand at that point in time. You dont go around challenging such, else you get your head blown off for nothing. Especially in a country like naija. If she had any grieveances, there are other ways to go about it; probably less effective but would def have saved her alot of embarrassment.

@dippthinka, ignore all you want, i sure am not trying to sell you my ideas. OYO!

With all this noise we're making here, let's see what comes out at the end of it.
Infact, as it is, we're all cowards, saying this and that here on our computers, which really has little or no effect on the going-ons around us!

oh. . .@adusol, not justifying anything, just making sure both sides get heard. Dats all.

My brother the noise is helping oh, even Fashola said the he was notified of the incident through the various mails he received.
go to Google type "harry arogundade"  or "uzoma okere" and see the tens of links to blogs, forums, social networking sites and newspapers local and international that are speaking very loudly against the brutalization, people have recognized that the only power we have is our voice, we can't take to arms or start rioting, all we have is our voice (electronic or natural) and that is what we need to use,  its not cowardice it recognizing you strength and utilizing it

@hesperus

abeg if u no get anything sensible to post, shut down ur pc!

I was a victim of soldier's brutality myself. You dont have to be rude to them b4 they unleash their brutality!. my story is exactly like okere's. These animals were driving against traffic and expected us to leave the way for them. unfortunately I didnt notice them on time, so I negotiated the roundabout, only for one of them to pounce on me. I got a hot slap for no wrong.

You are here trying to make excuses for these animals in uniforms. May be u need to experience this some day to have a feel of what we are talking about.

Thank GOD o! no be today we don de yarn plenty things and yet these nothing changes. Really hope it'll be different this time, not just for her sake but also to serve as a deterrent.

Hesperus:

I think majority of this forum is getting me wrong. I mean, I can't have overemphasized my disdain at the act, and I have stated over and over again, it is definitely wrong. (read my previous posts)

@rotimiorims. You say the people who stood by and watched were not cowards? Why? Yes the men assaulting her are the ones supposed to protect us. As you said, the people around could do nothin but report. Which is exactly what the girl in question should have done. Please people, let us be realisitc here. This scenario is not peculiar to Naija alone, there is police brutality everywhere, even in developed countries. In such situations, truth be told, the man with the gun has d upperhand at that point in time. You don't go around challenging such, else you get your head blown off for nothing. Especially in a country like naija. If she had any grieveances, there are other ways to go about it; probably less effective but would def have saved her alot of embarrassment.

@dippthinka, ignore all you want, i sure am not trying to sell you my ideas. OYO!


With all this noise we're making here, let's see what comes out at the end of it.
Infact, as it is, we're all cowards, saying this and that here on our computers, which really has little or no effect on the going-ons around us!

I think its funi how u r trying to be a voice of reason and through that you end up leading yourself in2 an abbysmal cul de sac,argument wise.The question is what manner of sin and magnitude of crime could an armless citizen have possibly commited to warrant such wanton battering?Will you try to be this analytical and discerning if this had happened to any of your relative.It is easy to use provocation as a leeway but does it in anyway justify this barbarism.And you keep going on and on about it happening in other part of the world,24 hrs power supply is been experienced in developed countries too,why cnt our own leaders/and people of authority take a cue frm that?Why must it be molestation they are learnin frm and fastly too?

its funi and startling how u think typing and sharing ideas online cld constitute noise too! Or do you mean that figuratively?

@fyneguy(!!!) you sef shut down if u have nothin to say! With an attitude like dat, its no wonder you got Bitchslapped!

Which average man never experience police/soldiers? We all know they unleash randomly, but we need a good approach to solve this menace. Its time we learned 2 wrongs never ever make a right, especially when you're the one unarmed.

@ kay, its figurative.

Hesperus:

What is good about the point?? Taking both parties into account, thats what is. Do you know what happened prior to the assault, were you there?

You obviously do not understand the very simple and basic point that IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT HAPPENED PRIOR TO THE ASSAULT. The men had no right to assault, batter and strip her in the manner they did.  As to your question of do I know what happened, the answer is a resounding YES I DO. Like I said, there were eyewitness accounts of the events. If such accounts are good enough to hold up in a court of law, they are good enough for me. I do not have be there to know what happened (The same way I was not there the day Dele Giwa received a parcel bomb, but I know from eye witness accounts pretty much what took place that day). I am sure that with this your mentality, if you were in the jury of the RODNEY KING trial, you would have refused to award him damages because the video did not show what happened prior to the policemen beating the crap out of him (which by the way was deemed irrelevant in the case even though it was proven and admitted by King that he led the officers on a high speed chase AND assaulted them while trying to evade arrest). So for the avoidance of any doubt, There can be no justification for such actions. END OF STORY.

Hesperus:

And where were the so-called cowards come eye-witnesses who stood around and watched the entire drama? Everyone is quick to point out the injustices of the system, but nobody is willing to do a damn thing about it!

I don't know if you just glossed over the reports (or even read any of them at all), but I am sure it is written in BLACK AND WHITE ^{(yes, colours again)} that the people who were with the victim in the car came to her defence in some form or the other and were assaulted for their efforts (one with a rifle butt). Also, the victim confirmed that the crowd gathered and tried to stop the hooligans from leaving. It was these same people who insisted that the woman deserved an apology from the Arogundade man. I do not know what you expect under the circumstances. Maybe you think the crowd should have mobbed the men or picked up sticks and stones. Defence comes in various forms and thank goodness for the cold hard evidence of the video, because without it, the matter could easily have been swept under the carpet or denied outright by the navy. So do not say nobody did "a damn thing", as the taking of this video surreptitiously (as in the Rodney King case) was probably the greatest act that this case has seen. What matters is that at the crucial point, people stood up to be counted (or else millions of people like me might not have heard of the matter, or might have heard of it only in passing). The uproar caused by their actions (especially the video) has brought the matter to numerous countries and to high offices in Nigeria. If that is doing not a damn thing, then I don't know what is.

Hesperus:

since you're such an expert at colours, maybe you'd like to paint a clearer picture?

As it is said, sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, so you can be as sarcastic as you like. However, if the above response does not "paint a clearer picture" for you, then I'm afraid you are doomed to be condemned to the scrapheap of the mentally and/or visually impaired.

@morrocco; So it doesnt matter what happened prior? In dat case, I can as well walk up to the nearest policeman, head butt him and then dare him to touch me. Since it wont matter what I did.

I very much agree that they had no right to batter her dat way, no man does infact. Left to me, they should all be lined up and shot. But let sentiment not overcloud our reasoning. The fact that she was at the receiving end of the brutality does not make her 100% blameless. She probably might be though, at the end of the day.

Morrocco, am not pickin fights with you o, dis one wey you go consult dictionary 'cos of me!

It's Morocco, not Mor[b]r[/b]occo. And I do not need to consult a dictionary to make a simple reply. I am a lawyer and a writer. Words are the tools of my trade.

and I am an Engineer, we deal with diagrams n co, so i am excused! Thanks.

To all those trying to speak civilized or as civilized persons thereby defending those angry and pathetic naval animals, Have you heard?


Some members of the naval force has succeeded in KILLING- I mean STABBING TO DEATH- two young men.

They started by beating both guilty and innocent okada drivers (commercial motorcyclists). Then they progressed to beating their fathers anyhow on the streets. Now they are beating women and even killing men.

what shall you say if you were a family member of the young men that were killed by navy men ? What will you do if you saw an ordinary navy person beating your own father or mother or brother for no tangible reason? What will say if you saw a navy person beating the same okada man that carried on his bike, for no reason ?

Please, if any body can, let him or her stand up and speak out so that this recent trend in the street of Lagos should stop, IF NOT, it will continue till the day it gets out of our hands.

For those doubting, please try to confirm what I said from your relied source(s).