According to Adib Saani who is a renowned security analyst about 200 to 300 young men and women have been recruited by terrorist groups in the northern parts of Ghana.
Speaking in an interview with one of the Accra-based FM stations, he asserted that a number of surveys revealed how armed organizations were working in the nation and that open borders foster drug, weapon, and human trafficking.
In his own words;
“As part of a series of surveys and assessments of the security situation in the Gulf of Guinea countries conducted by Promediation, it has emerged that the establishment of armed groups in northern Ghana has also allowed terrorist groups to implement an active recruitment strategy.
“It is estimated that 200 to 300 young people have been integrated into the various GSIM-JNIM and EIGS katibas. After undergoing training in training camps in the Sahel, these young recruits were sent back to their villages of origin, in particular, to engage in religious proselytizing,”
“porous borders fester smuggling, arms and human trafficking. For example, according to figures from the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP), in 2019 there were 44 official migration entry points in Ghana.
“However, in reality, there were more than 189 uno?cial entry points on the border with Burkina Faso alone. This complicates our efforts to counter the threat.”
“Recent attacks in Benin, Togo, and Ivory Coast highlight the determination of the terrorists to expand beyond landlocked Sahelian countries, where the insurgency has devastated thousands of lives and property in the last decade.
“Ghana has a big number of prolonged unresolved chieftaincy and ethnic conflicts and tensions, particularly in the Northern regions.”
“The inherently high exploitative capacity of extremists implies that these vulnerabilities put Ghana in danger of terrorist exploitation,”
Today, more than 53% of all ECOWAS states are experiencing insurgencies and the pervasive spillover phenomenon makes Ghana’s border regions a key area of concern.
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