The North East Gonja District Directorate of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), has engaged various youth groups in the district as part of efforts to prevent violent extremism in the country.
The day’s event, held at Kpalbe, the district capital in the Savannah Region, was to educate participants on the threat of violent extremism and terrorism, and how they could contribute to prevent and contain it in the country.
Participants included hairdressers, dressmakers, artisans, welders, masons and representatives of trade associations.
It was in line with the “Preventing and Containing Violent Extremism” project being implemented by the NCCE with funding from the European Union, to strengthen state and non-state actors in the response against violent extremism.
Mrs. Martha Bagbin, the North East Gonja District Director of the NCCE, said the activities of violent extremists posed a serious challenge across the globe, especially in the Sahel region, hence the need for residents to be cautious with the calibre of people they engaged with.
Mrs. Bagbin indicated that the efforts to fight against violent extremism in the country were a shared responsibility amongst community members, stakeholders and the security agencies.
She called on community members to be vigilant and report strange occurrences and behaviours to security agencies in their communities to help fight against the menace.
Inspector Haruna Mohammed, the Station Officer at Kpalbe Police Station, made a presentation on community surveillance, awareness creation at social gatherings, possible signs of radicalisation, neighbourhood watch, community patrols, as well as what to do during an attack.
He urged residents to embrace the government’s campaign of ‘See Something, Say Something’ by calling the toll-free lines to report suspicious activities and elements in their communities.
Mr. Mohammed Musah Tindawu, North East Gonja District Chief Executive, said the district was still young and required a lot of development projects, emphasising that any act of violence could deny the area of the needed development.
He expressed the need for the youth to eschew violence and endeavour to live in peace with one another in order not to give the extremists the opportunity to penetrate their communities.
Participants pledged their commitment towards complementing the efforts of the security agencies to protect their communities against violent extremism.
