Deputy Defence Minister, Kofi Amankwa-Manu, says every Ghanaian has a part to play to shield the country from any terrorist strike. He said it was going to take a combined effort to stop any terrorist, jihadist or extremist from carrying out a terrorist attack in the country.
Amankwa-Manu underlined the need for people to be more security conscious and to be quick to alert the security agencies – police, soldiers, prison officers, fire service, immigration officers, to any suspicious persons, strange objects and bags left unattended at banking halls and other places.
This comes amid warnings by the West Africa Centre for Counter-Extremism that Ghana is at high risk of terrorist attack.
The West Africa Centre for Counter-Extremism in its latest report said threats of extremism were drifting towards the coastal countries from the Sahel region and that Ghana could not be spared considering the happenings in the neighbouring states.
The report makes a reference to the pockets of political and social unrest in parts of the sub-region to underline its’ conclusion that extremist attack in the country, like a ticking bomb was only waiting to go off -explode.
Peter Lanchene Toobu, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wa West, who is a retired police officer has called for the government to ensure a careful balance in its handling of security information about imminent extremist attack on the country to avoid creating fear and panic in the people, the very goal terrorists seek to achieve by their acts of terror.
He said; “we need to be careful so that we do not become the ones creating the fear and panic”.
He was reacting to the caution by the National Security Ministry, that religious organizations should be extra vigilant and take precautionary measures against imminent terrorist attack.
Peter Lanchene Toobu is not enthused about the approach and says, the security ministry could have invited the religious bodies, tell them everything they need to know and what they should be doing instead of issuing a press release.
Content created and supplied by: KyeretwienanaOseiBonsu (via Opera News )
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