Nigerian comedian, Atunyota Akpobome popularly called Ali Baba has condemned the recent killing of 17 officers of the Nigerian Army in Delta, describing it as highly abominable.
Akpobome, who made this remark in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, said that the gruesome murder of the soldiers smacked of eroding societal values.
He spoke on the sidelines of the presentation of “Anything and Everything Journalism” and “My Story of Many Colours”, books written by the publisher of Yes International Magazine, Mr Azuh Arinze, in Lagos on Monday.
According to him, the murder of soldiers showed that the nation is suffering from poor moral education in the country.
“Killing another human being is bad, the killing of anybody that works for an institution, especially an institution like the army that protects the people, is worse
“Overseas, when you are traveling, they (airport authorities) board the military personnel first as well as retired officers.
“What it means is that we need to begin to know our values totally in the country. This is unfortunate.
“You do not respect the military that protects you, you went ahead to then kill them, whatever the reason you have, it is a huge crime.
“You don’t kill a soldier man, you don’t even push him, slap him or resist an arrest. It is crime,” the comedian,who is also from Delta, said.
According to him, whoever that is hurt by the misdemeanors by any public officers including soldiers is expected to take evidence and approach relevant authorities for redress.
Akpobome, however, called on the Public Complaints Commission, the National Orientation Agency and other institutions established to douse tensions should be up and doing and restored public confidence.
Advocating a new constitution for the country, the comedian said that the constitution that made the states and regions weak, could not take Nigeria to achieve the dream of its founding fathers.
He said that the current constitution had made the centreto be so powerful ,affecting the progress of the federating units.
“It is hard for states to survive. We need more power for the states to make progress.
“A lot of these states have even more than what we see them generating. We need a constitution that will devolve more powers to the states,” he said.
On the clamour for state police, Akpobome said that the step had become very necessary in the light of the present security challenges faced by the nation. .
He said that policing should be from the grassroots to effectively address insecurity.
NAN recalls that on March 14, at least 17 senior military officers and soldiers of the 181 Amphibious Battalion, deployed to quell clashes between Okuoma and Okoloba communities in Delta, were ambushed and killed in Okuama Ughelli South Local Government Area of the state.
