Threats to safety: Requesting valid but insufficient information – Bombande

General News on Thursday, June 6, 2019

Source: Myjoyonline.com

2019-06-06

A former Deputy Foreign Minister under the John Mahama Administration, wants security agencies to do more than just ask the public for information to cope with the recent upheavals in security in the country.

Emmanuel Bombande believes that while it is good for the public to provide information, security agencies must develop an in-depth study that will put security forces on the front line, with the public becoming the pillar.

"So, just as security agencies are getting ready to react, you need a minimum of civic education and awareness. For example, when you ask the public to provide information to the police, you must also inform the public of what needs to be done. find out and how they should report, then you prepare them for it.

"That's why I would have thought that our National Commission for Civic Education, our National Peace Council, would convene this type of meeting to define indicators and criteria to educate the public," he added. .

Ghana is in a high state of alert following events threatening the security of recent weeks. The first, the arrest of a Burkinabee with guns in a Catholic church in Hamile, Western Western Region, raised concerns about the terrorist alert.

With only a dozen terrorist attacks in this country in April and May alone, many Ghanaians fear that the growing number of Burkinabés in the country will jeopardize Ghana's security.

Borders have been tightened and more security personnel have been deployed at the Ghana-Burkina Faso border.

On Thursday, Brigadier-General Francis Ofori, a general officer commanding the Northern Command, encouraged the public to provide him with any information that could uncover any threatening terrorist element in their community.

Not so long ago, a 30-year-old Indian was also abducted in Kumasi by gunmen. The kidnappers claimed a ransom of US $ 500,000 after sending photos of the victim to his family, a weapon to the head.

That said, two Canadian nationals were kidnapped in Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital. Police arrested an Uber driver following the kidnapping in the suburb of Nhyiaeso and, although the identity of the latter was not revealed, Ohemeng Tawiah, of Joy News, said that the suspect was the one who drove the Canadians to their hotel.

Police confirmed the kidnapping. In a statement released Thursday, they called on the media to be cautious in their reporting.

The police also invited the general public to provide useful information to badist the investigators in their work.

But Mr. Bombande wants to do more.

Tengen Dunor was arrested Wednesday in Hamille, a border town of Ghana with Burkina Faso, with a locally made gun.

Citing the campaign to educate Ghanaians about the threat of the deadly Ebola disease, he said the security threat was just as scary.

"Except that the threat of kidnapping and the spread of violent extremism and terrorism do not threaten the disease, but that it is also a threat that can upset and reduce our image on the international scene , makes us a country that can be on the list of terrorist countries.

"All we need is a terrorist attack. We will be on the list of countries that have been attacked for terrorist activity and it will take years to be able to clean our name and our image and become the Ghana that we once were, "said the former minister of Foreign Affairs on Newsnite about Joy FM.

He said that a coherent, effective and coordinated strategy was needed in response to the multidimensional nature of the situation.