The Command, through its Head of Operations and Intelligence, Deputy Superintendent of Immigration (DSI) Robert Ubindam, said violent extremists often churned out false narratives to recruit the youth who were mostly unemployed.

He said: "We are much concerned about the youth because if you look at the border community, most of the youth are largely unemployed. We are concerned about radicalization and awareness creation for them not to fall for false narrative that extremists put across to deceive them,"
DSI Ubindam said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after he facilitated a youth programme organized by the District Directorate of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) at Paga.

The programme, supported by the European Union (EU), was dubbed "Preventing and Containing Violent Extremism (PCVE)", and brought together youth from across 11 border communities in the district.

The main objective of PCVE was to prevent and contain violent extremism through the promotion of social cohesion, peace and tolerance in the five northern regions, and other hotspots in Ghana.
DSI Ubindam schooled the youth on the modus operandi of extremist groups, and said extremists spread propaganda, gave false narrative to the youth and recruited them to fight the State and its security set up.

He said the youth should look out for strange people in their communities who tried to propagate divisive messages, insightful comments, hate speech and made lofty promises.

"Watch out for such characters and report to the security agencies," DSI Ubindam stressed.
He said the threat of violent extremism to Ghana was real, and that the security agencies were on alert as they continued to gather intelligence, "For Immigration, we have intensified patrols at the borders day and night," he added.

Mr. Robert Dampare, District Director of NCCE, said the youth engagement was aimed at ensuring that the youth understood the negative consequences of joining violent extremist groups, and to further appreciate the legal framework that bared activities of violent extremist and terrorist groups

He said violent extremism still posed threats to global security and societal harmony and expressed concern about the radicalization of youth by extremist groups which could be intensified as Ghana prepared for the December 7 elections.

Mr. Dampare said radicalization was a gradual process, and that everyone, especially the youth, were more susceptible to radicalization and recruitment into violent extremist groups.
He cautioned the youth to look out for suspicious characters in their communities and report to the security agencies for appropriate action.

The Director further thanked the EU for the support to the Commission, and said the NCCE would continue to execute its constitutional mandate as a state institution.
Some participants of the programme who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) thanked the NCCE and the EU for the initiative to engage them on the modus operandi of extremist groups.

They promised to disseminate the information to their colleagues in the communities.