See Something, Say Something campaign goes to schools
In a bid to enhance public safety and foster community vigilance, the Ministry of National Security has taken the "See Something, Say Something" campaign to educational institutions in the Greater Accra Region.
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The initiative is to encourage citizens to actively participate in ensuring the security of their communities by reporting any suspicious activities or objects. In line with this, a team from the Ministry of National Security visited some selected schools, including the St Joseph R/C Basic school, Adabraka Cluster of Schools, King Tackie Cluster of Schools, liberty cluster of schools, Calvary Basic School and Gray Memorial Basic School.
Be vigilant
As part of the programme, the students received awareness materials, including posters and pamphlets, to educate them on the importance of being observant in order to report unusual incidents.
Addressing the attentive students separately in the various schools, the “See Something, Say Something” campaign team lead, Akosua Danquah Ntim-Sekyere, shed light on the significance of the campaign in the wake of growing security concerns in the West African sub region.
Contextualising the campaign within the global landscape, she emphasised the security challenges faced by neighbouring countries like Burkina Faso and Nigeria, and painted a vivid picture of schools being closed down due to the activities of terrorist groups, leading to instability and fear in those regions.
"With instability in neighbouring countries, people are seeking refuge in Ghana. We cannot afford to be complacent. For security reasons, we are embarking on this campaign to educate you, so you can be informed and help the government gather intelligence," she stated.
Mrs Ntim-Sekyere encouraged the students to be vigilant and proactive in reporting any suspicious activities, and indicated that their contributions could make a significant difference.
She outlined the importance of using the toll-free line 999 to report specific information that would aid security forces in deploying resources effectively. To facilitate reporting, she said the campaign had adopted the acronym "SALUTE", focusing on the size of an object, the activity a suspicious character was engaged in, the location, uniform or attire, the time and equipment used or seen.
Another member of the campaign team, Irene Yaa Frimponmaah Sasu, urged the students to report anything they found unusual or potentially threatening, ranging from unattended bags in public spaces to suspicious behaviour.
She said the success of the campaign relied on the public sharing reliable information that would help security operatives to foil the activities of criminals, especially terrorists.
Ms Sasu said the ministry had introduced dedicated hotlines and online platforms for citizens to report incidents easily and confidentially.
“The number to call is 999” she said, and gave the assurance to the public that all information would be treated with utmost confidentiality as measures were in place to protect the identity of those reporting.
A basic four pupil of the Mantse Tackie Cluster of Schools, Beatrice Makafui Agba, said, “When I see something I will say something to keep my neighbourhood and my family safe.”
