Students of Fijai Senior High School. INSET: DSP Olivia Ediku educating the students
The Western Regional Police Command is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that students in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis are protected from further nefarious activities of kidnappers in the area.
The police have, therefore, begun a sensitisation programme in second cycle institutions on the modus operandi of the criminals and how the students could ensure their personal safety.
The one-month sensitisation campaign is being carried out in collaboration with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the Information Service Department (ISD).
It had already taken place at the Fijai Senior High School, Methodist Senior High School and St. John’s School in Sekondi.
Other schools that have benefitted include Adiembra Senior High School, Archbishop Porter Girls’ Senior High, Ahantaman Girls’ Senior High School and Ghana Secondary Technical School (GSTS) in Takoradi.
Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), DSP Olivia Ediku, explained that the stories of the three kidnapped girls in the metropolis show that students in the area are more vulnerable, hence the school-to-school educational campaign.
She indicated that the students would be educated to know the tricks employed by the criminals to kidnap and abduct the youth and children.
“So we are meeting students in the second cycles schools in the metropolis to arm them with all the information they need about kidnapping and the tricks used by kidnappers so they are not overtaken by events,” she explained.
DSP Ediku pointed out that the campaign would soon move to the various tertiary institutions in the metropolis, including Takoradi Technical University and the Ghana Telecom University College.
She explained that the move was to assure the students of police security and conscientise them on some of the everyday mistakes that make them vulnerable.
The PRO indicated that police investigations revealed that most of the students and the youth were falling prey to the mishaps of social media, so there was the need to intensify sensitisation on the issue.
DSP Ediku bemoaned the fact students go on Facebook and Twitter these days and broadcast every little thing they do, thereby, drawing unnecessary attention to themselves.
“Some also form friendships on social media and end up meeting the people in person without the knowledge of their friends and family and this is very dangerous,” she warned.
She advised the students to always move in pairs or more and always be conscious of their personal safety and avoid accepting lifts in tainted glass vehicles.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi