NCCE holds sensitisation programme on violent extremism at the Tamale School of Hygiene

The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) in the northern region has organized a sensitisation programme on Preventing and Containing Violent Extremism (PCVE) at the Tamale School of Hygiene. The programme targeted students of the school and other tertiary institutions to get them sensitized on the early signs of violent extremism and get suspicious characters reported to the security agencies.

In December 2022, the Commission launched an 18-month EU-funded project titled “Preventing and Containing Violent Extremism (PCVE) in Eight Border Regions in Northern Ghana”.

In all, eight (8) border regions will see the implementation of the PCVE Project. The regions are the Upper East, Upper West, Savannah, North East, Northern, Bono, Bono East, and Oti Regions. The operational regions are to actively engage citizens on the threat of violent extremism, to prevent the invasion of extremists in Ghana as has been reported in other neighbouring countries.

The NCCE under the National Framework for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (NAFPCVET), 2019, is mandated to create awareness of violent extremism, carry out public education, and facilitate activities to engender among the citizens of Ghana, security consciousness, social inclusiveness, community cohesion and situational awareness.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the programme, Alhaji Ali Mohammed, the northern region director of the northern region of NCCE, said the sensitization aims to make tertiary students ambassadors of the Preventing and Containing Violent Extremism (PCVE) in Eight Border Regions in Northern Ghana campaign.

“We need to sensitise every citizen of Ghana to be alerted and be conscious of his or her environment and look around to see any suspicious character and get such characters reported. So by this way, we can prevent the activities of violent extremists that are around our neighbours” he said.

He further stated that “this is to prepare the mind of Ghanaians for us to be conscious of what is around our environment. If you see any suspicious thing, get it reported. This is a campaign to support the campaign, thus if you see something, say something”.

He encouraged citizens to make use of the hotline 999 and report any suspicious acts or characters to the security agencies.

“We expect that, our students must be ambassadors in the school environment, they need to be conscious of themselves and send the message to their friends and family so that everyone is well aware of this campaign” he emphasized.

Alhaji Ali Mohammed said the NCCE will form civic clubs in tertiary institutions and revive those clubs in the Senior High Schools to keep the momentum of the campaign in the minds of the students.

Source: radiotamaleonline