Nigerian comedian, Atunyota Akpobome, popularly called Ali Baba, has condemned the recent killing of 17 officers of the Nigerian Army in Delta State, describing it as highly abominable.
Ali Baba condemned the act in an interview he granted the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos State on Monday.
According to him, 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, Azuh Arinze.
The veteran comedian said the murder of soldiers showed that the nation is suffering from poor moral education in the country.
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Ali Baba said: “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 travelling, 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, you don’t even push him, slap him or resist an arrest. It is a crime.”
Ali Baba added that whoever is hurt by the misdemeanours by any public officer, including soldiers, is expected to take evidence and approach relevant authorities for redress.
He, however, called on the Public Complaints Commission, National Orientation Agency and other institutions established to douse tension to be up and doing to restore public confidence.
While advocating for a new constitution for the country, Ali Baba said that the constitution that made the states and regions weak, could not take Nigeria to achieve the dream of its founding fathers.
He stated further that the current constitution had made the centre to be so powerful which in turn has affected the progress of the federating units.
He said: “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.”
Speaking on the clamour for state police, Ali Baba said that the step had become very necessary in the light of the present security challenges faced by the nation. .
According to him, policing should be from the grassroots to effectively address insecurity.
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