Terrorism is the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians or governments in the pursuit of religious/political/ ideological ideological aims (Oxford dictionary)
Globally renowned as an oasis of peace and security, Ghana is increasingly worried following a spate of terrorist attacks in neighboring countries and lingering political and ethnic tensions at home.
The 2022 Global Terrorism Index from Australia’s Institute for Economics and Peace shows that the Sahel has become a global epicentre for violent extremism, with Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger accounting for three of the 10 countries with the largest increases in terrorism-related deaths in 2021.
Recent attacks in neighbouring Togo and Côte d’Ivoire reveal that the threat is growing, leading Ghanaian authorities to raise the alarm.
Combined with ethnic tensions, clan succession fights in the north and rising unemployment across the country, Ghana is ripe for exploitation by terrorist groups if its social problems aren’t urgently addressed, according to the Accra-based West Africa Centre For Counter-Extremism (WACCE).
“We are highlighting vulnerability factors, such as rising youth unemployment, chieftaincy conflicts and tensions, ethnic profiling and marginalisation which extremists could exploit to attack or recruit or radicalise young people,” WACCE Executive Director Mutaru Mumuni Muqthar.
Although any part of the country could be targeted, recent developments in Ghana’s northern regions and along the border are seen as particularly worrisome.(Jonas Nyabor, May 2022)
Terrorist don’t wake up one day to attack their targets but do that through a meticulous, strategic and calculated planning process including;
Firstly a surveillance to determine the strengths, weaknesses and number of personnel that may respond to an incident if they attempt an attack.
Also they would test the security force of their target by driving/ridding by their target, moving into sensitive areas and observing security or law enforcement response.
They would be interested in the time the security of it’s target will take to respond to an incident, the routes taken to a specific location.
They may also try to penetrate physical security barriers or procedures in order to assess strengths and weaknesses of the security of their targets.
Terrorist would finally do a dry run which is a practice of the final plan of attack, a practice session will be run to work out the flaws and unanticipated problems. This stage is actually our best chance to intercept and stop an attack. Multiple dry runs are normally conducted at or near the target area.
So it is right for the security force in Savannah region and for that matter Ghana to be responsive to the current allegations making rounds because that will tell the terrorist if there is any, the preparedness of the security of the country to counter if they attempt an attack, we must also make sure that our borders especially Chache have strong network connection for one to be able to call and raise alarm when strange and suspicious people are spotted.
Not withstanding the media must be circumspect in their reportage, else the reality may be reported in future and may not be treated with the seriousness it deserves.
We must be alert and keep our borders tight with an equal attention to the unapproved routes into our region.
Andrews Dery.
