The Commanding Officer in charge of the Counter Terrorism Department of the Ghana Police Service, Chief Superintendent Raymond Adofiem, has cautioned the media to be circumspect in putting out information that borders on national security.
According to him, some media reports give out vital information concerning Ghana’s security apparatus, which aids in the activities of extremist groups. This, he said poses a challenge in the fight against terrorist attacks.
Chief Superintendent Adofiem was speaking at a workshop in Accra on the emergence of extremist groups in West Africa.
Stakeholders at the workshop raised concerns on the proliferation of extremist groups in Burkina Faso which has the tendency of spreading to Ghana.
The workshop which was under the auspices of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, focused on Ghana’s response to the increase of terrorism attacks in West Africa.
This comes on the back of series of kidnappings and bombings in Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo and a number of countries in the sub-region which hitherto were affected by the activities of extremist groups.
Chief Superintendent Raymond Adofiem said certain media reports rather aid terrorists instead of thwarting their activities.
A research fellow with KAIPTC, Dr. Festus Aubyn raised concerns that the proliferation of terror groups could spread to Ghana.
Stakeholders at the workshop agreed that Ghana’s approach to dealing with possible terrorists attack should be proactive and not reactive.