Deputy National Security Coordinator Mr. Edward Kweku Asomani has announced that government will tomorrow launch a new campaign for Ghanaians to report suspicious acts of terrorism in the country.
He said even though the country has a robust security and intelligence architecture, the help of the people is crucially needed to enhance government’s plans to beef up security in Ghana.
The campaign dubbed: ‘See Something, Say Something’, will allow every citizen to reach out to people in authority and security agencies to report anything suspicious for appropriate actions to be taken.
It will be launched by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia at the Ministry of National Security as part of ‘a whole-of-government and a whole-of-society’ approach to mitigating threats that confront the state.
Speaking at the meet-the-press series organised by the Ministry of Information in Accra yesterday, the Deputy National Security Coordinator said, “That is why we are here today to seek the support of all Ghanaians. We are not panicking; we are on top of the situation but we need the help of everybody in our jurisdiction. We are launching this campaign on Tuesday with the 999 number. All the Police handles – Twitter, Facebook – will be activated.
“When you ring, you don’t even have to identify yourself because we have some individuals who are worried about identifying themselves when they are giving information. If we do this very well, we will all collectively reduce the risk that we face in the country”.
High alert
Mr. Asomani also gave assurance that Ghana’s security services are on high alert and well prepared to handle any terrorist threat that may befall the country.
His assurance followed reports of potential attacks of extremist elements targeted at Ghana.
According to him, the security and intelligence agencies have monitored the activities of these terrorists over the years and are prepared to deal with them should they move into the country.
The West African sub-region has in recent weeks, been inundated with attacks by extremist elements some of which have occurred as close as 50 kilometres from Ghana’s northern frontiers.
As recently as May 11, 2022, in Togo, about 15 assailants and 8 military personnel were killed during a terrorist attack.
Increasingly, intelligence reports suggest some Ghanaians have been involved in terrorist acts in the Sahel Region, signaling the possible recruitment of Ghanaians by some of the terrorist groups in the West Africa sub-region.
Mr. Asomani disclosed that within the first quarter of this year, Africa has been hit with about 346 terrorist attacks.
Out of this number, he indicated that 49% of them occurred in West Africa.
The terrorists, Mr. Asomani pointed, usually exploit existing fault lines the likes of ethno-religious conflicts, communities that feel alienated or have grievances towards authority.
“This clearly indicates that the sub-region has become a hotbed for terrorism”, he cautioned.
These terrorists, Mr. Asomani revealed, come in all forms, posing as pastors in Churches, Islamic clerics in the Mosques and individuals coming in as Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) purporting to do community work.
“That means that we all have to be vigilant”, he stressed.
“This has been the pinnacle of the southward drift of the terrorists. We are clearly therefore a target and that is why we are here today to seek the support of Ghanaians that you need to help the screech and intelligence agencies.
“You need to report any suspicious activity that you see.
“We have the view that when Ghanaians own their personnel security, when Ghanaians are aware of the environment and conscious of the environment, it will reduce the threat of an attack on our country. “We are a proud nation, proud people. We have a robust security and intelligence architecture. But it’s not complete. When Ghanaians are not fully switched on or on board with us”, he emphasised.
Engagement with Ghanaians
Minister for Information Mr. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said as a result of this heightened terrorism threats, the state security and intelligence agencies have authorised an increased level of awareness among the intelligence community and to deepen engagement with the Ghanaian public in line with contemporary security practices.
“We are therefore at this point specifically drawing the attention of persons in the Ghanaian jurisdiction to be more observant and vigilant about our security ecosystem and to draw the attention of Police, other security agencies and local community leaders, immediately they observe anything out of the ordinary,” he said.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah announced that in the coming days the Ministry of National Security will be rolling out the full campaign aimed at mobilizing and providing persons in the jurisdiction with more security education.
This, he said, will empower the citizenry to report suspicious activities that could potentially compromise the security of their communities.
Kan-Dapaah’s warning
On Tuesday, May 17, 2022, the National Security Minister, Mr. Albert Kan-Dapaah, issued a statement drawing the public’s attention to growing threats of terrorism in the sub-region, and urged people to be vigilant and extra careful.
The statement said such attacks, having occurred in neighbouring countries like Togo, La Cote D’Ivoire and Burkina Faso, it was important that Ghana recognises it remains a target.
It called for heightened vigilance in areas of mass gathering like churches, mosques and places of entertainment.
The statement also urged managers of public places and areas of mass gathering to light up those areas and adopt the use of guards and security gadgets.
