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Joachim Elbazar, Nabdam District Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), says any form of violence is counterproductive to sustainable development and must not be encouraged.
According to him, the end result of violence as experienced in neighbouring countries brought nothing but the starvation of residents due to shortage of food, destruction of property, maiming of energetic youth including men and women who could fend for their families, and prevent the total loss of human dignity.
He noted that the youth were vulnerable and easy targets of violent extremists who were usually recruited and weaponized to cause havoc and maim people, so it was important the youth were given relevant information to refrain from being recruited for such crimes.
Elbazar revealed this when he addressed residents of the Zanlerig-Gane community in the district on the sidelines of a community cinema that showcased how violent extremists recruited people, particularly the youth, to kill innocent citizens without recourse to religion, political party affiliation, or gender.
Viewers who could not endure the suffering of innocent civilians subjected to such violence with just a glance were heard saying, “Oh, this is so sad and evil and must not be wished for”, “My God, we don’t want this; even with peace, we are still struggling to make ends meet. How much more this?”
The cinema formed part of an 18-month European Union-funded project dubbed Preventing and Containing Violent Extremism (PVCE) being implemented in eight border regions of the country, namely, Upper East, Upper West, North East, Savannah, Northern, Bono, and Oti Regions.
Under the project, the NCCE is mandated to create awareness about 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.
Madam Rebecca Colecraft, Assistant District Director of NCCE, said the horrifying scenes from countries evaded by the extremists were nothing but the height of inhumanity that no country would wish for.
She urged the residents to desist from indulging in activities that would jeopardize the peace of the country.
“I want to encourage the youth that yes, things don’t look too good now, but we can only make this place better if we are together and decide to make it better by protecting one another and being each other`s keeper.
“The extremists have nothing to lose because they have no family or property here, but it is our loved ones and property that we would lose in the end, so, everyone should stay focused and be guarded,” she stated.
She emphasized that violence in any form had not helped the development of any nation and called on the residents to be vigilant and say something when they see something suspicious.
Mrs Naomi Denzabre, a resident, commenting on the videos, said, “This video is a great lesson to all of us and would eventually humble those who find pride in saying if it is war, we will fight, it clearly exposed our ignorance about war and its devastating effect.
“This has reaffirmed why we need peace as a country and must live in harmony regardless of our economic woes because there is no wealth in fighting ourselves”.
