Security Analyst, Adib Saani, has said that the re-arrest of prominent Fulani Imam, Sheikh Dukere, does not mean that he (the Imam) is connected to jihadists or terrorist groups in Burkina Faso.
According to a Joy News report, Sheikh Osman Dukere was arrested for the second time in Ghana by National Security together with 12 of his followers on Saturday, October 1, 2022.
Although the reason for his arrest has not been disclosed, the Imam was arrested in 2019 with 20 of his disciples when he was accused of having links with a jihadist group in Burkina Faso.
The first arrest was made after the security operatives in Burkina Faso informed the National Security of Ghana that Imam Dukuri was the emergency contact of 5 jihadists it had killed in a gunfight.
But in a statement copied to GhanaWeb, Adib Saani said the five terrorists killed might have had the contact of Sheikh Dukere because he was the contact person for Fulanis who fled to Ghana.
“Sheikh Siidi Dukere who was arrested alongside 12 of his followers in Karaga in the northern region was arrested in the past and released due to lack of evidence.
“He came under the radar when killed militants in Burkina Faso had his number on their emergency contact list. But as an individual who was the official focal point and contact person for all Fulanis who fled into Ghana from Burkina Faso, it would have been normal to have his contact saved on many phones even if he didn't know them,” parts of the statement read.
Adib, however, urged the security apparatus in Ghana to be vigilant because the five terrorists having the contact of the Islamic cleric might mean that they might have come to Ghana at some point.
“However, the fact that these individuals had his number saved in their devices meant that they might have accessed Ghana before returning to Burkina Faso,” he noted.
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