The Dean of Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFSC), Dr. Vladimir Antwi-Danso is advocating for government to intensify awareness creation on the dangers of terrorism in the country.
He contended that 90 percent of countries that have been able to detect and fight terrorist attacks have done so through awareness creation and artificial intelligence.
Speaking on Top Story, Monday, Dr. Vladimir Antwi-Danso urged the government to make Ghanaians aware of the modus operandi of terrorists.
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“For me, the most important thing is to make the people aware of terrorism and our security. You go to Israel and a two-year-old knows what to do, what to report and what to look out for and that they will never pick toffee or pen or balloon from the ground…We are not very aware of anything at all…People are oblivious of the dangers of terrorism and insecurity around them and these are the things that we should be looking out for, that we should make the citizenry to be very much aware of their surroundings,” he said.
Although Dr. Vladimir Antwi-Danso commended the government for its efforts against terrorism so far, he noted that a lot more has to be done in that regard.
The situation, he said is not just about deploying armed men to border towns.
“It is not the numbers [in terms of armed men] that fight terrorism. Our military, how many are they? Put all the security forces together and put them on the streets, it doesn’t change anything. You know the London thing you talked about, they augmented it through artificial intelligence.
“There are CCTV cameras on every building in London and that is healthy, that is more important and the people there are very much aware…so let’s add some more men but the artificial intelligence will do more for us and our awareness of knowing what is not correct and reporting ” he added.
Dr. Vladimir Antwi-Danso’s call comes on the back of the Deputy National Security Coordinator’s comment regarding about 346 terrorist attacks within the first quarter of the year.
Edward Kweku Asomani said out of the recorded attacks, 49 percent occurred in the West African Sub-region.
Mr. Asomani said the figures indicated that the sub-region has become a hotbed for terrorism and, therefore, the need to create awareness on security consciousness among the citizenry.
The Security Coordinator said this during a media engagement in Accra on measures being taken by Government to combat terrorism.
He said Ghanaians needed to be vigilant because the nature of the threats is unconventional – did not involve Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) or fighter jets.
The Ministry of National Security on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, would launch the “See Something, Say Something campaign,” to encourage Ghanaians to own their personal security and be aware and conscious of their environment to reduce the threat of an attack on the country.