‘All is not well’ – Deputy defence minister on possible terrorist attacks in Ghana

We must ‘shine our eyes’ and really try to fight terrorism, Deputy defence minister

Ghana warned to be vigilant as 8 soldiers die in terrorist attack in Togo

Deputy Defence Minister, Kofi Amankwa-Manu, has expressed worry regarding the recent terrorist attacks in countries surrounding Ghana with the latest victim being Togo.

Amankwa-Manu said that trend of the terrorist and jihadist attacks suggest these criminal organisations are now seeking to move towards the coastal parts of the West African sub-region which means that Ghana must now be more vigilant, myjoyonline.com reports.

The deputy minister, who said this during an interview on JoyNews’ ‘The Probe’, added Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire are the only countries in the sub-region not to have experienced such terrorist attacks. He, therefore, urged the security apparatus of Ghana to stand in readiness to avert such attacks.

“So, we cannot sit and fold our arms, thinking that all is well. All is not well. And we need to prepare. We need to be vigilant. We need to really, like we say in Ghana, ‘shine our eyes the more’. Because if you look around, all the countries around Ghana, in one way or the other have been hit. We are the only country left standing.

“If I say we’re the only country left standing, talk of Burkina they’ve been hit. Talk of Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, (and) Niger, they’ve all experienced this bitter pill from these extremists. And when you look at the southward movement of these groupings, clearly, one thing is obvious, they’re looking to find a coastal country,” he said.

He reiterated that “we in Ghana, must begin to, like I said, shine our eyes and then really try to fight this crime.”

The deputy minister’s comments follow a warning to Ghana by the West Africa Centre for Counter Extremism (WACCE) after a terrorist attack in the Republic of Togo.

WACCE said that the recent terrorist attack in Togo, which claimed the lives of eight soldiers, and wounded 13 of them, implies that the activities of terrorist and jihadist groups are getting closer and closer to the borders of Ghana and must serve as a wakeup call to the security apparatus in Ghana.

The Executive Director of WACCE, Mutaru Mumuni, said that the attack in Togo poses a major security threat to Ghana.

He said the security agencies in the country should as a matter of urgency start taking proactive steps to fight terrorism.