Security personnel urged to exercise restraint in handling matters involving civilians 

By Mildred Siabi Mensah

Takoradi, July 26, GNA – Mr Francis Poku, a former National Security Coordinator, has asked security personnel not to use extreme force in handling matters involving civilians. 

“Our society is a society of mercy, thus the need for the security agencies to carefully handle issues in a more reasonable manner to avoid conflict,” he said. 

In recent times, brutality and altercation between the security agencies and the civilian population were surging, a situation which must be nibbed in the bud to engender trust, he said. 

Mr Poku said this on the sidelines of the Western Regional Roundtable with the youth on trending conflicts in the region under the Sahel Peace Initiative in Ghana.  

The National Catholic Secretariat of Ghana, in collaboration with the Catholic Relief Services, is leading the Sahel Peace Initiative, to raise awareness about violent conflict and advocate positive change. 

Meanwhile, research indicates that Ghana was facing an imminent risk of violent extremism spillover from the Sahel as the borders with Burkina Faso, Togo and Côte d’Ivoire remained porous.    

The risk of violent extremist attacks spilling over from neighbouring countries was high with parts of the country currently experiencing localised communal, chieftaincy, land and intra-religious conflicts. 

That, he said, was the more reason Ghana must guard against actions that threatened its internal security and opened an avenue for external militants to lure the youth into violent extremism. 

 The meeting specifically focused on engaging the youth in an open and constructive discussion to identify and analyse the trending conflict issues that could contribute to the rise of violent extremism or radicalisation and strategies to help stakeholders avert them. 

GNA 

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