The National Peace Council (NPC) is relaying intelligence on an avowal by some terrorists in the West African sub-region to hit the coastal cities in West Africa, including Ghana’s capital, Accra at all cost.
This intelligence was a dominant theme at a peace training program for youth in the Kasena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region.
The program which was organized in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), is aimed to equip the youth to exercise vigilance and spot possible terrorist infiltration from neighboring Burkina Faso which has already been stricken by terrorists.
“That is their plan. The terrorists have voiced it― their intention to reach coastal West Africa. It is one of their avowed aims. We’ve heard they want to be in cities like Accra,Cotonou, Lagos, Abidjan, et cetera. That is their aim because these are the economic centres in the coastal countries within West Africa. Lagos is the economic centre of Nigeria,” alerted the NPC’s Executive Secretary, Ali Anankpieng
“Accra is the economic centre of Ghana. I think Cotonou is the same for Benin. If they are coming to Ghana from Burkina Faso, they can do that through our borders here in the Upper East Region as one of their routes. The essence of this training programme is to raise awareness for people to look out for things that they can do to prevent violence including violent extremism,” he revealed.
He is reported to have pointed out that the same drivers of terrorism in neighboring Burkina Faso prevail in Ghana as well.
“The same drivers of this violent extremism in Burkina Faso are in Ghana. One is the increasing youth population and its attendant problem of unemployment. Then, the existing conflicts that the extremists are exploiting, which we have here― land conflicts, chieftaincy conflicts, issues of ethnic identity that have been turned into conflicts. The same factors are here. So, it’s just a matter of fact that extremists would have a reason to do the same in Ghana as they are doing in Burkina Faso,” the NPC spokesperson warned.