The National Commission for Civic Education, NCCE, has called for a strong collaboration between the media and the security agencies to combat extremist activities which are subtly gaining ground in the country, particularly along border communities.
The Chairperson for the NCCE, Josephine Nkrumah, is also concerned about the seeming sour relationship between the media and the security agencies, citing the harassment of journalists by security agencies, adding that, poor relations between the media and the security agencies, have the potential to derail efforts in tackling extremism in Ghana.
“It is important for us to begin to bridge the gap between National Security and the media because the media really is that institution that drives conversations, influences mindsets and begins to steer the affairs of where we are going, and so if the media and the national security are working at divergent points, we cannot achieve that goal because what we’ll have is the increased or the consistent reportage that is negative to the Ministry of National Security, and therefore it will not engender the confidence of the citizenry in the Ministry of National Security and security agencies”, she said.
The Chairperson for the Commission, Josephine Nkrumah, made this call in an interview with the sidelines of a training workshop for its District Directors from Upper East, North East and the Northern Regions on Countering Violent Extremism.
The training comes on the back of a survey which was conducted by the NCCE titled “Risk or threat Analysis of Violent Extremism in Ten Border Regions of Ghana” with support from the EU, with findings suggesting that Ghana is prone to violent extremists activities.
The training thus forms part of efforts to implement recommendations of the findings from the survey, which seeks to ensure communities along the borders are sensitised on the causes and effects of violent extremism and the need to be vigilant and report any suspicious persons to the security.
The Chairperson emphasized the role of the media in the fight against violent extremism, saying the media should dedicate more of their airtime to discuss the issue and sensitise citizens to be vigilant.
“We as citizens must be more vigilant; we should be able to describe somebody who enters somewhere, and you find the person to be odd or strange. That is something that doesn’t come naturally to us; we must become more observant about some of these things in order to report to the security and the media. On the other hand, we need to raise awareness on violent extremism”.
In recent times, there has been a general feeling of insecurity among residents of the Northern Region due to some kidnappings and robbery activities there.
The Northern Regional police upon a tip-off arrested some three persons suspected to be part of a kidnapping and robbery syndicate, and are believed to be operating in the Savannah, Northern and Oti Regions.
According to the Regional Police command, the suspects were lodging in separate hotels in Tamale and were picked up upon intelligence.
Items including money, mobile phones and machetes were retrieved from the suspects.
Meanwhile, it is unclear whether these syndicates are linked to any extremist group.
