Irbard Ibrahim
Security Analyst, Irbard Ibrahim, has described the discourse around the dismissal of some 501 military recruits in December 2015 as worrying.
The peace ambassador and governance expert in an interview with Kwame Tutu on Rainbow Radio 87.5fm, expressed disappointment in the way and manner the issue has been addressed.
The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) in December 2015 dismissed about 501 military recruits for staging an unauthorised assembly.
The recruits, who were undergoing a six-month mandatory training at the Army Recruits Training School (ARTS) at Shai Hills on December 3, 2015 were said to have staged an unauthorised assembly on the school square, marched to the instructors’ accommodation and demanded to be sent home because the training was strenuous.
Two of the recruits on Friday morning disclosed on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5fm that, agents of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) are luring them to join them.
According to Kwame Ayerty and Kwame Asare who spoke with Kwame Tutu, the group have sent them emails to persuade them to join them.
Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) for GAF, Colonel Aggrey Quarshie says the dismissed recruits are free to join ISIS if they sole wish.
But commenting on the matter, Irbard Ibrahim says, although he faults the recruits for indiscipline, he will also fault GAF for dismissing them without compensation.
The recruits he explained, have had an exposure to the use of ammunition and if care is not taken, they may not only join militant groups but hard core criminal groups.
'"This is an unpass that has been badly managed. There were better ways of dealing with such a crisis, and it is creating more challenges for us."
The recruits he indicated, are frustrated and expressing their anger expecting that, government will address their concern once and for all. He further admonished the recruits not to join the group despite the challenges they are facing.
Irbard Ibrahim underscored the need for young people to be taken serious by government considering the frustration within the Ghanaian youth.
"If we do not do something for these recruits, we should not be surprised if they join armed robbery groups. We should treat this problem with the urgency it deserves. The dismissal of the 501 recruits was unprecedented. They [GAF] could have dismissed only 100 or 200 but dismissing 501 is serious...They could have been given some compensation, the compensation would not cost the nation considering the security threats these recruits would cause the nation... Politicians may use them for the selfish gains. Somebody needs to be listening because, these are some of the things that ld to the setting of Boko Haram and other militant groups."
