GENERAL NEWS

Armed Forces trains Customs officers in counter insurgency

64 Infantry Regiment – the Counter-Terrorism Unit (CTU) of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), has successfully trained thirty-eight (38) Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) officers, to form the pioneers of the Customs Counter Terrorism Unit for the revenue institution.

The Customs officers had been through three weeks intensive of training at the Asutsuare Training Camp of GAF’s Special Forces, to be GRA’s CTU, within the Preventive/Enforcement Department, and graduated on Monday, 23rd December, 2019.

The Customs team, which is the second batch which had been trained in counter-insurgency teamwork and confidence building, went through subjects such as weapon training, obstacle crossing, navigation, voice procedure, map reading, identification of IEDs, cordon and search.

Speaking as the Guest of Honour at the ceremony to close the training, Mr Seidu Yakubu – a Deputy Commissioner, Preventive of GRA, highly extolled the empowerment through inter-agency collaboration, such as it is with the 64 Infantry Regiment.

“Fighting terrorism, extremism and other organized crime is no longer a reserve of any one institution, it is a collaborative effort among security institution as shown by your willingness to put your resources and manpower at our disposal to train our men for the maintenance of peace, security and territorial integrity”, Mr Yakubu said of the Special Forces.

Mr Yakubu stressed the importance of training and equipping a very vital national institution like the Preventive/Enforcement Department of the Customs, with the necessary skills in combating transnational cross border crimes, such as terrorism, extremism, jihadist and other emerging security threats.

“The liberalized International Trade has its fair share of the threats. We all know that trade is the economic backbone of every Nation”, the commissioner intimated.

Customs as a mandated frontline Institution is expected to adopt modern and workable tools, to concentrate its control and enforcement activities, to effectively disrupt illicit cross-border trade that poses the highest threat, while they also facilitate legitimate trade that conforms to safety, peace, security and territorial integrity.

 

Source: ghanapeacejournal.com

Ogyem Solomon

Solomon Ogyem – Media Entrepreneur | Journalist | Brand Ambassador Solomon Ogyem is a dynamic Ghanaian journalist and media entrepreneur currently based in South Africa. With a solid foundation in journalism, Solomon is a graduate of the OTEC School of Journalism and Communication Studies in Ghana and Oxbridge Academy in South Africa. He began his career as a reporter at OTEC 102.9 MHz in Kumasi, where he honed his skills in news reporting, community storytelling, and radio broadcasting. His passion for storytelling and dedication to the media industry led him to establish Press MltiMedia Company in South Africa—a growing platform committed to authentic African narratives and multimedia journalism. Solomon is the founder and owner of Thepressradio.com, a news portal focused on delivering credible, timely, and engaging stories across Ghana and Africa. He also owns Press Global Tickets, a service-driven venture in the travel and logistics space, providing reliable ticketing services. He previously owned two notable websites—Ghanaweb.mobi and ShowbizAfrica.net—both of which contributed to entertainment and socio-political discussions within Ghana’s digital space. With a diverse background in media, digital journalism, and business, Solomon Ogyem is dedicated to telling impactful African stories, empowering youth through media, and building cross-continental media partnerships.

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