Ghana vigilant on extremist threat: president

Three men were charged on Tuesday with possession of explosives after suspected hand grenades were found in the Odorkor area of Accra.

Ghana’s inspector general of police, David Asante-Apeatu, said officers were looking for “potential allies” of the trio “inside and outside the country”.

Akufo-Addo told a news conference to mark his first year in power that the extremist threat was “a reality for all of us” and “Ghana, in principle, cannot be exempt as a potential target”.

Ghana has so far not been attacked but neighbours Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso have not been so lucky.

In January and March 2016, both were attacked by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, leaving scores dead.

Akufo-Addo described Ghana’s approach to the jihadist threat in West Africa as “so far, so good” but he warned: “We can never, ever let our guard down.”

This week’s arrests showed “a level of alertness that will enable (the police) to nip some of these things in the bud”, he said.

Security services would continue to share intelligence and increase its capacity while dealing with the causes of radicalisation.

“But I think that Ghana is stable, Ghana is secure, Ghana is safe and I’m certainly going to do everything I can to make sure that that reality in Ghana continues,” he added.

Police have not yet revealed the three men’s nationalities. Reports have said they are all foreign nationals.

They have been identified only as Ismaila Ali Musah, Abdul Karim Yakubu and Osman Hassan and remanded in custody by a city court to reappear on January 30.