LAGOS- Outraged by the seeming bestiality displayed by some naval ratings on a lady in Lagos, residents in the metropolis have demanded decisive justice.

A cross section of the residents described as “barbaric, crude and unacceptable” the assault on the lady, Uzoma Okere, who was reportedly beaten up and stripped by the ratings for allegedly blocking the passage of their boss.

Reports say that the incident was said to have happened in the presence of the Rear Admiral, (names withheld), who was also said to have ordered one of the ratings to offer the lady a shirt after her beating and the stripping.

The boss was quoted as saying Uzoma was lucky not to have been killed during the encounter.

She is currently on admission in a Lagos hospital.

The residents who spoke to newsmen called for a thorough investigation into the matter and appropriate sanction meted to those found guilty.

Miss Ada Agina-Ude, Director of Gender and Development Action (GADA), an NGO, said that the case at hand presented another opportunity for the government to call to order military officials who often parade themselves as “untouchables” and as being above the law.

She urged women groups to take the matter up and intensify their efforts at securing the rights of the women in the society.

She asked them to intensify their campaign for the domestication of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Agina-Ude also urged human rights lawyers to institute a public prosecution on behalf of the woman.

Mrs. Ugochi Okpe, a legal officer, Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP), also an NGO, described the assault as another case of violence against women.

She urged the relevant authorities to take appropriate action against the officer, stressing that military personnel have no right to take the laws into their hands.