News about the arrest of three persons in possession of hand grenades or small bombs yesterday and as carried elsewhere in this edition is frightening for a country not used to such scenarios. It is a wakeup call not only for the security agencies but to all Ghanaians to be alert and to cooperate with the intelligence community on matters bordering on the safety of our country.
We are elated by the swiftness of the source of the tip-off which led to the unmasking of the grenade runners and the police who moved in quickly to nab them.
This is the kind of dividend to be yielded when there is a good rapport between members of the public and the Police. Imagine if the grenade runners had operated for the next few years with others joining them in the dirty trade.
Digesting the information that thirteen grenades are at large makes us even scarier. The suspects reportedly brought in twenty grenades but sold thirteen.
We have never come so close to extremist infestation and must as a nation review our national security strategies so we are not caught off guard. One of the suspects is said to be an ISIS member, Libya chapter. ISIS members from Mosul, Iraq, according to American intelligence, are heading for the Libyan failed state to join others there – the strings of defeat they have suffered lately making that option more sensible for them.
There is no doubt that ISIS seeks to get a foothold in North Africa – the proximity of which place and West Africa through Niger makes us fret.
We know that exhaustive interrogation would be carried out on the suspects. Answers from the engagement would reveal an important insight into the dangerous grenade running and the clients therein.
For the umpteenth time, we have editorialized on the need to take another look at the increase in the number of beggars migrating from Boko Haram infested parts of Niger to the country. Early last year, we heard about the extremist preaching of a certain cleric in one of the Kumasi Zongos and raised alarm about it especially pictures of shotguns which went viral on social media.
A few years ago when a Ghanaian youth went to join ISIS in Syria and died, we expressed worry about the ease with which the young man was brainwashed by a foreigner who came into the country.
When it was reported that the man had lost his life in that country, we warned about the security challenges which could originate from that. It has been said that sometimes ISIS reports the death of their men only for them to release such persons back to their countries of origin to spread their extremist ideologies.
While there is no turning back on our borders opening twenty hours for the seven days of the week, our immigration managers must be equipped to meet the emerging security trends which could be lethal if allowed to continue without proactive measures.
The sense in arming immigration officers at our frontiers makes more sense now. Persons who manage to bring in hand grenades into the country can be dangerous when they are challenged at the frontiers.
Let us all be protectors of our national security by reporting suspicious persons in our neighbourhoods when we have sufficient evidence that they are dangerous. Some did, hence the arrest of the grenade runners.