Preventing Violent Extremism: Savanna Regional Peace Council in perspective

Violent extremism is creeping across the globe but it is becoming predominant in Africa, especially in the Sahel region. The youth are particularly vulnerable because these extremists use money and drugs to bait the youth into joining them and doing their bidding. These extremists have the propensity to attack military installations and also normally target crowded places like schools, churches, mosques, hotels, markets, and what have you.

In Burkina Faso, for instance, 80 deaths were recorded in 2016 while more than 1,800 deaths were witnessed in 2019. When countries face such situations, their economies and social services are truncated and indeed, records have it that 1,784 schools were closed down, depriving over 246,000 children of education.

In Nigeria, the story is not different. More than 27,000 deaths were recorded in the last 9 years while 22,000 people mostly women and children were declared missing in terrorist attacks. It is heartbreaking when you hear that 83 incidents of female suicide bombers were recorded in 2019 in this same country.

Mali, too, had its share of violence, recording 145 incidents in 2019 while 1,248 deaths in 2019. Again, not less than 800 schools were closed down, leaving 245,000 children affected.

Niger also recorded 92 attacks with more than 435 deaths while terrorists attacked military positions, killing a total of 174 military personnel in the Tillaberi region bordering Mali in December 2019 and January 2020 -apologies to the Savanna Regional Peace Council (SRPC) for these records.

The phenomenon is subtly creeping in our direction, and therefore, the big question is – Are we prepared as a country to face the threat? It is on this score, that the Savanna Regional Peace Council (SRPC) has entered the fray with a well-planned preventive strategy to check the menace.

So far, the SRPC has toured and sensitised community members on the need to be vigilant and report suspicious characters to the authorities in the Bole-Bamboi and Sawla Tuna-Kalba Districts, which are adjourning districts to Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. Whether or not, the authority concerned would take action on such tip-offs is another ‘’wahala’’ (headache), but, advisedly, rapid response should be attached to these reports since it would encourage others to readily volunteer secrets.

Just recently, the SRPC engaged the North Gonja District Assembly members, including unit committee members in Daboya, and the reason for the engagement touched on the agency’s research findings on ‘’Violent Extremism’’. The agency recognised the pedigree of the assembly persons to influence their constituents at the local level, and therefore, bring change in their various communities.

A presentation by Rev. Father David Dum on the phenomenal ‘’ Violent Extremism’’ revealed a lot of secrets that many Ghanaians knowingly or unknowingly take for granted.

Structural, cultural and religious forces do influence some people to segregate and form terrorist groups and lure or force others to join the bandwagon. When people have unfulfilled dreams not out of their making; when people are marginalised and denied opportunities; and when people harbour ethnocentric or tribal feelings, nothing can stop them from forming groups that would tend to preach hate against others.

From SRPC’s research, people who feel marginalised, it is not surprising, would sit at ‘’ dark/strange places in the night; some would pour water into fuel tanks; others would trade abusive songs, destroy sign post, drop unwanted materials in churches, mosques, sitting places, and many more.

Then, we also have the early warning signs of violence which are categorised into physical and psychological indicators. Some people would pose constant threats to security forces and opponents who are supposed to be our friends by way of phone calls and text messages, others would burn down public or opponents’ properties, and disrupt activities, campaigns, and ballot boxes, with the resultant decline in attendance at markets, schools and social programmes.

The SRPC’s report paints a very sordid picture of ‘’Violent Extremism’’, and my interactions with some assembly persons revealed a deep sense of concern among members. They are, therefore, poised to carry the education of vigilance on terrorism to their people. But I have a different perception, which may be a public opinion, on the ability of assembly members to deliver against the backdrop of the polarisation of the district assemblies, especially between the two major political parties New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Alternatively, the SRPC could make an enormous impact if they target the overall population, or better still, crowded places like, lorry stations, churches, mosques, etc.

All in all, the SRPC has shown that it can be a society protector and transformer, and it is the hope of this writer that other agencies are doing the same in the other border towns. Let’s create a society where opportunities are equal, allowing the dreamer to realise his or her dream. A society which allows vast differences between the haves and the have-nots would never know peace. The have-nots would always go after the haves, even though, sociologically speaking, there would never be equity.