‘Be conscious of security’ - Minister of National Security
The Minister of National Security, Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, has advised Ghanaians to be alert and report suspicious activities to his outfit for action.
He said the threat of global terrorism was real and it was, therefore, important for Ghanaians and other foreign nationals to always stay vigilant.
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Speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview in Accra, Mr Kan-Dapaah assured organisations of the ministry’s preparedness to collaborate with them to beef up security on their premises.
He said National Security would continue to play its role to ensure the safety of Ghanaians.
Mr Kan-Dapaah further stated that the resilience and alertness of Ghanaians to suspicious activities of neighbours could greatly help to curb terror threats.
He also clarified the wrong impression being created in the media that his outfit was daring terrorists.
He said the focus was rather on advising Ghanaians to be vigilant always.
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Meeting
Officials from the National Security Secretariat met with some religious leaders last Thursday to discuss global terrorism and its effects.
He said the meeting was aimed at forewarning religious leaders to beef up security in their various places of worship.
Mr Kan-Dapaah’s ministry also offered to train internal security personnel, ushers and other workers in the various churches and mosques.
Background
The Africa Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies (ACSIS) last week issued a security alert that the Salafi Jihadist group based in Burkina Faso had been moving in and out of Ghana through the border with Burkina Faso over the past four months.
The militants are reported to have killed four Burkinabe Customs officers at a checkpoint at Nohao, near the Ghana border, and burnt three vehicles in February 2019.
Gunmen last Sunday killed six people, including a priest, during Mass in a church in Dablo in northern Burkina Faso. The attackers also burnt down the church building.
It was the third attack on a church in Burkina Faso by jihadists in five weeks.
Global terrorism
Global terrorism peaked on September 11, 2001 when terrorists attacked the twin towers at the World Trade Centre in the United States and other security installations, killing more than 2,900 people in the process.
Although security has been beefed up in many countries, terrorists have occasionally succeeded in killing innocent people.
Ghana lost one of its scholars, Professor Kofi Awoonor, in a terrorist attack in Kenya in September 2013.
Fifty Muslims were killed during Friday prayers in two consecutive shootings at Christchurch, New Zealand, on March 15, 2019.
The gunman, a 28-year-old Australian man, live-streamed the first attack on Facebook Live.
The attacks have been linked to an increase in white supremacy and alt-right extremism observed globally since the mid 2010s, according to foreign media.