The West Africa Centre for Security and Counter-Extremism (WACCE) has warned that Ghana is not cloistered from terrorism attacks.
The Centre’s warning comes in the wake of terror alerts issued by the United Kingdom and Canada to their citizens residing in Ghana.
The Canadian Embassy in its security alert said “there is a threat of terrorism. Terrorist targets could include shopping malls, government buildings, and public areas such as bars, restaurants, hotels and sites frequented by Westerners. Be aware of your surroundings in public places.”
The government, however, said in statement that there is no need to panic, explaining that the alerts are normal travel guide given by foreign governments to their nationals overseas.
“The Ministry hereby informs the Ghanaian public that the alerts are only standard cautions and do not represent any specific known terrorism threats to the Nation,” assured the Minister of Information Mustapha Hamid in a statement.
In his reaction to the development, however, the Executive Director of WACCE Mutaru Mumuni Muqthar said that “it will be very, very strange that any embassy within the region will issue an information pact to its citizens without including the element of possible terrorist attacks.”
“…Because, we have seen the veneer of insecurities that have been created within West Africa in the last eight years and Ghana is not anyway insulated from possible terror attacks. So this is something we should expect to see contained in an information pact like this,” he added.
He said the earlier response of the government to the alert was not encouraging due to the existential threat terrorism pose to the sub-region.
