A total of 125 Police personnel at the weekend passed-out after undergoing a vigorous ten-day drill on various aspects of anti-terrorism and kidnapping, at Boti Falls, near Huhunya in the Eastern Region.
The personnel, including 11 women drawn from all parts of the country would in turn impart the knowledge acquired to their colleagues at the divisional and district levels of the police establishment.
The training which was organised by the Police Administration with resource persons from National Security, Crime Protection Unit and Brave Hearts Expedition, a private outdoor company, was to better equip the personnel on how best to tackle kidnapping and terrorism, in Ghana.
In his address at the closing ceremony, the Executive Director, Africa Centre for Security and Counter-Terrorism, Mr Emmanuel Kotin, said Ghana would best handle terrorism and kidnapping through police-civilian co-operation.
That, he explained, was because Ghana’s situation was not peculiar to that of its neighbours such as Nigeria and Burkina Faso which had to rely on the deployment of the military.
According to him, what was needed was information on such criminals from the public for the police to immediately go to the rescue of the victims.
“Although the police are doing their best in gathering information on such criminals, much depended on civilians to give the police hints on bad nuts living among them in the communities and the police would promptly act to apprehend the criminals and rescue the victims” Mr Kotin stated.
On why the police were able to rescue the two Canadian ladies kidnapped in Kumasi, last week, Wednesday, June 12, but unable to do same for the three girls kidnapped in Takoradi months ago, Mr Kotin explained that the two situations were different because the vehicle on which the Canadians were travelling in was identified immediately after their disappearance, but the Takoradi girls were reported missing after they failed to return home after a long period.
He, however, said that the police were doing their best to rescue the Takoradi girls.
Mr Kotin appealed to the press to be circumspect and avoid sensational reports on the issue by cross checking with the police any information regarding the issues before going public.
The Commanding Officer, National Counter Terrorism Department, Chief Superintendent Raymond Adofiem, promised that the identity of informants on kidnappers and terrorists would always be protected as such civilians should feel free in dropping information on the criminals.
FROM SAMUEL OPARE LARTEY, HUHUNYA.
