A member of the Defense and Interior Committee of Parliament, Major Derek Oduro, has charged government to address poverty and unemployment issues, to clamp down on the increasing activities of terrorist group, ISIS in the country.
[contextly_sidebar id=”mGbUcYP5PW1eewZQQZuQT58hYKGcsZXN”]The Education Ministry has revealed that reports from the National Security available to them show that terrorist group, ISIS, has successfully recruited agents in Ghana who are targeting students from the various tertiary institutions.
Already, two students who had earlier joined the group were heading to Syria from Lebanon, according to a Deputy Minister of Education Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
However, Derek Oduro who said he was not too surprised at the development in an interview with Citi News, called on the Muslim leaders and government to work to ensure that the Muslim youth in particular are not enticed into the terrorist group’s fold.
“…Leaders of Muslim institutions should be roped in to assist to educate and enlighten their members that they should not yield to demands of Al-Shabab and ISIS because they are the conduits they can use,” he said.
“Government should make sure that unemployment especially within Islamic societies are looked into so that people will not be easily convinced to join them(ISIS),” Major Oduro added.
The Member of Parliament who believed the declaration by the National Security is a bit too late, however recommended that educational institutions be supported to fortify their security systems to enable them avert a further increase in recruitment by the terrorist group.
“Institutions particularly tertiary ones should set up security committee and if need be they extend their tentacles to cover secondary education, all of these should set up committees to look out for the agents or the representatives from the various tertiary institutions,” he stated.
The National Security Co-ordinator, Mr Yaw Donkor, had earlier confirmed that two Ghanaians including a 25-year-old graduate of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST),Nazir Nortei Alema and another person, Rafiq, have joined the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citifmonline.com/Ghana