The National Commission for Civic Education ( NCCE) has taken a two-year awareness creation campaign on the prevention and containment of violent extremism (PCVE), which is threatening the West African sub-region to the Oti Region. 

At a political party youth activist forum at Kadjebi last Thursday, the District Director of NCCE, Daniel Agbesi Latsu, noted that the campaign on the PCVE was launched in the five northern regions in November 2022 and extended to three other regions bordering them, which included the Oti Region.

Mr Agbesi Latsu noted that the campaign, being funded by the European Union (EU), was originally meant for 18 months and was supposed to end in May 2024 but was extended to November this year.

He noted that with all the countries bordering Ghana engulfed by the violence, it was necessary to educate the people to be aware and take precautionary measures to guard against it.

He named the five northern regions as the Northern, North-East, Upper West, Upper East, Savannah and the three regions bordering them as Oti, Bono and Bono East. The forum was attended by 40 participants who were selected from the New Patriotic Party, National Democratic Congress, National Democratic Party, Liberal Party of Ghana, Persons with Disabilities and students. It seeks to improve their knowledge and attitudes on the culture of peaceful coexistence, tolerance and nonviolence.

Educating the people, the Oti Deputy Regional Director of NCCE Setriakor Gagakuma said violent extremism could come about when the people, especially the youth, allowed themselves to be swayed through various subtle influences. With such subtle influences, Mr Gagakuma said could be easily enhanced by such triggers like marginalisation and poverty. 

By marginalisation, he said, people who felt they were excluded in society could look for comfort wherever they could find it and poverty, he said, lured people into dangerous associations. Such people, he said, are the targets of the violent extremist groups that are on the lookout to recruit more people into their fold.

He, therefore, called for vigilance to detect people who are likely to fall victim and those suspicious characters who are in their midst to cause trouble. He asked the people to be alert and report such people to the security agencies or traditional authorities for the necessary actions to be taken. 

Mr Gagakuma pointed out that since such extremists preferred crowded places to unleash their violence, he asked them to be extra vigilant in their churches, mosques, and markets. 

The Kadjebi District Director of the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice ( CHRAJ), Eric Arthur Fynn, informed them that with the 2024 elections around the corner, the youth must be wary of people and politicians who might come doling cash freely. 

Mr Arthur Fynn asked them to resist such gifts since they do not know where the money came from. He advised the people that the more they refused such gifts, the politicians would be compelled to use the money to develop their communities, towns and cities since that would rather encourage the voters to vote for them. 

He further advised the people to resist politicians who came to lure them into violent confrontation.

Ghana, Mr Arthur Fynn, said was the only country we have and we cannot be happily accepted when we go to any other country when we put our country into flames.