By Sulemana Zakaria
Gushegu (N/R), July 23, GNA – The Gushegu Municipal Directorate of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has engaged personnel of the Ghana Police Service and the community in a dialogue on violent extremism.
The engagement was an activity under the Preventing and Containing Violent Extremism (PCVE) project with funding support from the European Union (EU).
It sought to create good relations between residents and the Police in the municipality.
Participants included traditional authorities, religious leaders, women groups, youth groups, and security services among other stakeholders.
Alhaji Aliyu Mohammed, Northern Regional Director of NCCE, speaking during the event at Gushegu, said it was to afford community members the opportunity to express their views on matters related to security.
He said it was also to create a platform for the security services to explain their duties to the community.
He expressed the need for cordial relations between the security services and the citizenry and called for collective efforts to ensure peace.
He encouraged participants to report any strange development that posed a threat to security in the area.
Mr Awal Abdul-Mugis, Gushegu Municipal Director of NCCE said preventing violent extremism required the cooperation of stakeholders at all levels and urged participants to be vigilant about early warnings and potential threats to security.
He said the Police played crucial roles as primary agents of public security on behalf of the state and that they must be assisted in carrying out their duties.
He stated that chieftaincy, ethnic clashes as well as farmer-herder issues were threats to security and called for a stop to all of such and similar cases.
He called on political parties to conduct their campaigns devoid of insults, character deformation, and vandalising party properties and encouraged the citizenry to promote peace before, during and after the general election.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Thomas Tulesi, Gushegu Municipal Police Commander, said policing was a shared responsibility, stating that the Police could not do much in the absence of cooperation from the community.
He said the Police did not disclose the identities of informants and encouraged members of the community to volunteer information to the police on suspected criminal activities.
Gushe-Naa Alidu Ziblim, Chief of Gushegu, appealed to leaders to be honest and work towards ensuring peace to promote development.
He encouraged community members to resort to amicable resolution of their differences.
Reverend John Chiikpab, Chairman of the Local Council of Churches, appealed to traditional authorities and politicians to halt the practice of shielding offenders, who ran to them for protection, to allow the security services to do their work effectively.
GNA