The Guan District office of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), with support from the European Union (E.U), has intensified public education on violent extremism among at-risk groups including students.
Engaging with the students of Likpe-Mate Roman Catholic (R.C) Junior High School in the Guan District of the Oti Region, Mr. Abass Uthman, NCCE District Director, called on the students to report suspicious characters to lawful agencies for prompt attention since threat of terrorists attacking communities was real.
He said a survey conducted by the Commission where 1,351 participants were interviewed from 59 districts in eight regions of Ghana, including Oti region, 11 of the participants, who are mostly youth, said they were “willing to encourage family members or close friends to join extremist groups.”
This, he said, posed a serious threat to the peace and security of the country, hence the intensification of education on the menace to help nipped it in the bud.
Mr. Abass said Ghana is not immune to terrorist attack and that it could happen at anytime and anywhere, so there was the need for everyone to be security conscious.
He asked the students to ‘RUN’, if not ‘HIDE’ and ‘Hide’ if they could not run and to call 191, 192, 112, 999, 18555 when they were under attack or when they spotted suspicious terrorism activity.
The District Director also advised the students to resist the temptation of being lured into terrorist groups because there were dire consequences of belonging to such groups.
He said young adults were often targeted by extremist recruiters due to their susceptibility to influence, search for identity, and desire for belongingness.
Mr Abass said vulnerability to violent extremism was not solely determined by one’s identity or background, but social isolation, mental health issues, lack of education and economic instability could also contribute to vulnerability.
Mr Richard Akpabu, the Headmaster of the School, commended NCCE for the engagement, while advising the teachers to take security matters seriously and report suspicious characters to security agencies for an action.
Mr Akpabu also asked them to pay attention to the school environment to protect the children.
The Krachi Nchumuru, Krachi East, Nkwanta North and Kadjebi District offices of the Commission are carrying out similar engagements in the Oti region.
GNA
MA/LKA/AD
9 Feb 2024
Pic attached
