Communities must trust the security services to protect them – NCCE

The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has urged residents of local communities to trust and work with the security services in Ghana to protect them against harm and criminal activities.According to Mr Jafaru Alsadiq Omar, the Bolgatanga Municipal Director of the Commission, ensuring peace, stability and security in the communities required the trust and cooperation of the residents and security services, particularly the Ghana Police Service.Speaking at a community dialogue at Sokabisi in the Bolgatanga Municipality of the Upper East Region, Mr Omar, advised the residents to support and share relevant information about criminal and suspicious activities in their areas to the Police for action to help fight crime and threats of violent extremism.The dialogue session organised by the NCCE for the Sokabisi community, and the Police is part of strategies to enhance trust and cooperation between the security services particularly the Police and the community to fight crime, particularly violent extremism.It also created a conducive platform for stakeholders to enhance their knowledge of the operations of the violent extremists, the challenges in fighting crime and how they could play critical roles in supporting the security services to curb any spillover.It was organised under the auspices of a European Union-supported project dubbed: 'Preventing and Containing Violent Extremism (PCVE) Action in the Northern Regions of Ghana and it brought together chiefs, elders, community leaders, women and youth, security services and school children, among others.'The reason for organising the Police and community dialogue is to build trust between the police and community members for effective collaborations to improve peace and security of the community members,' he added.In a speech read on his behalf, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mr Edward Yaw- Asante, the Acting Bolgatanga Municipal Police Commander, said the Ghana Police Service was established by the state to provide security to liv es and properties of citizenry and therefore residents should see the police as their friend.'…The Police should be seen as a friend to the people, and through sharing of information the Police Service can function properly in the service delivery to the people,' he added.While applauding the EU for supporting the NCCE to build good relations between the police and the communities to improve the peace and security of the people, he reiterated the commitment of the Ghana Police Service towards total peace and security of the people of Ghana as a whole.Sheikh Adam Mustapha Sherrif, a resource person for the dialogue and a member of the Bolgatanga Municipal Inter-Party Dialogue Committee (IPDC), said the country was heading to the general elections in December and there was a need for unity among the people to protect the peace currently being enjoyed.He said peace was a prerequisite for development and it was important for the residents of the community to prevent using politics to create conflicts amon g themselves, rather than work collectively to demand development.Mr Michael Ayine, the Assembly Member for the Sokabisi Community, said the platform had offered them the opportunity to address certain security issues in the area and would strengthen their relationship with the security services especially the police for peace and development.Source: Ghana News Agency