Member of Parliament (MP) for the Wa West Constituency and a retired Superintendent of Police, Peter Lanchene Toobu, has advised that to prevent terrorist attacks on Ghana, the foundation of internal security must be strengthened.
He made this comment in relation to the West Africa Centre For Counter-Extremism (WACCE) reports that say Ghana is prone to terrorist attacks.
According to the Centre, irrespective of the fact that Ghana has managed terrorist threats for some time “Yet Ghana has been so close to terrorism.”
The report disclosed that already, more than 13 Ghanaians are believed to have travelled to fight with terrorist groups since 2015.
Speaking on Happy FM’s Epa Hoa Daben with Don Kwabena Prah, the Wa West MP said terrorists may sometimes not come from neighbouring countries but within our matrimonial home.
“We must pay attention to internal threats, in doing that we have to equip the police and strengthen the community policing so any form of threats that will emerge from our villages or community can be curtailed. We just can be at the borders and be arresting suspected extremists from the neighbouring country. Terrorists sometimes don’t migrate from any country, the woman you even sleep with on the same bed can be a terrorist. We must study the Boko Haram in Nigeria, Iraq and Iran and learn about ISIS and how they operate and train their people.”
He advised that as a country we must deal with security matters holistically devoid of political interference.
Portions of the report read that “Up to twenty-three (23), others have been dissuaded from leaving to join extremist groups Ghana’s first recorded case was Nazir Alema Nortey, a young university graduate, who shockingly left the country in august 2015 to join ISIS before sending a message back to his parents to announce his newfound cause. He was killed in Syria in April 2016.
“Professor Kofi Awoonor, a renowned Ghanaian poet and academic, was killed in the West Gate Mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya when Al Shabab fighters besieged the mall in 2013.
The Report further disclosed that “Even though the fatality numbers are presently down from the peak of over 7,200 in the region in 2014, the threat has increased in complexity and geographical spread. Today 53% of all ECOWAS have now been encircled by the threat. These developments are dangerous for Ghana.
“Ghana’s proximity to these countries (Burkina Faso to the North, Benin and Togo to the East and Ivory Coast to the West) exposes the country to extremist recruitment or attacks or both.”
