THE GHANA Navy Special Boat Squadron (SBS) has conducted its Maritime Counterterrorism Operational Readiness Exercise at the Nungua Junction Mall in Accra.
The exercise, codenamed ‘Exercise Sea Hawk’, is aimed at testing the capability of the SBS to work together with other stakeholders to respond to a maritime-related counterterrorism scenario.
Other participating units included Ghana Air Force, Eastern Naval Command, Armour Regiment, Ghana Military Police, Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team, and the Ghana Navy Aviation Cell.
It also sought to demonstrate the capability of the SBS in order to deter potential maritime terrorist threats.
The Minister for Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, said the exercise is in furtherance of the national security vision of keeping Ghana Safe and part of the “See Something, Say Something Campaign”.
“We are determined to ensure that Ghana remains a safe country, and all of us have a role to play; the security, and the people of Ghana. As always, we prepare for war before the war itself, and a good Armed Forces is the one that trains on daily basis and mimics what will happen,” he said.
The Defence Minister maintained that the Armed Forces is ready to deal with any attack and also to “detonate any Improvised Explosive Device (IED) or anything to ensure that we all remain safe.”
“What they need is information from the public, if you see something, say something,” he said, stressing that the security services need information from the public to work effectively.
“Some people when they see explosion, they rush there to take photographs to put on social media. Be security conscious, watch surroundings and take care of yourselves and don’t end up being a casualty in such cases,” he stated.
He added that, “Government is ready to support and equip the security services to protect us and will continue to re-equip the military to deliver in order to protect us.”
Present were the Chief of the Defence Staff, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Issah Yakubu, service chiefs and other senior military officers.
BY Linda Tenyah-Ayettey