Dr. Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, Chairman of the National Peace Council (NPC) has called on Ghanaians to be conscious of the emerging security threats posed by violent extremists under the disguise of small-scale illegal mining, popularly referred to as ‘galamsey’.
In many mining communities, the wanton environmental destruction and pollution of water bodies were worrying developments and asked communities to be more vigilant to protect the livelihoods of many.
While efforts have been made by government agencies, including the security agencies, and civil society organisations to clamp down on illegal mining, he said, the challenges wrought by ‘galamsey’ persist and remain burdensome, sometimes with fatal outcomes.
He made the comment amid the Ministry of National Security’s calls for stakeholders to support strategies to weed out illegal miners and ensure that terrorist groups do not take over the mining sector.
Addressing a day’s capacity building workshop on countering violence extremism for fishers in Central Region at Elmina on Tuesday,
He therefore appealed to ghanaians to protect the peace, stability and integrity of the country.
They gathering sought to empower on countering violent extremism, terrorism and radicalization, conflict prevention and peace building strategies.
According to National Peace Council Chairman, the Ministry of National Security had announced growing threat of terrorism in the sub-region and the expansionist drive of terrorist groups towards coastal West African states, with a renewed modus operandi of targeting Public gatherings, including places of worship.
As a result, it was imperative that precautionary measures were taken by all stakeholders, the National Security was collaborating with the relevant state security and intelligence agencies to avert terrorist attacks in the country.
He said,“This is the only country we have and everybody in this country must work towards the peace of our country.
The threat of terrorism is real and those of us at the realm of affairs should intensify efforts to create awareness in our communities on the need for vigilance and support to our security agencies who are well poised to deal with any situation.”
By uniquenewsgh.com
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