Director-General Public Affairs

The Ghana Police Service has advised religious bodies in the country to put in place stringent measures to forestall any terrorist attack on their operations.

The Director-General of Public Affairs of Police, COP, Kwesi Ofori, said his outfit will do its part, but the churches and Ghanaians as a whole, must help.

He, thus, urged religious organisations to sensitise their members on the issue.

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Speaking in an interview on JoyNews The Pulse on Tuesday, COP Kwesi Ofori disclosed that the Police Service has deployed more personnel to monitor areas that could be a target of terrorist attacks.

“We can advise the churches to know their flock. Know their members very well and put in a better sitting arrangement where it will be very difficult for an infiltrator to come in and pretend as a worshiper. And all newbies should be known and talked to and should go through the normal security checks that the churches have in place.

“And we believe that the churches should encourage the training of security wardens to help in this regard.”

It would be recalled that, the Ministry of National Security recently identified the movement of suspicious persons on the hills of Bunkprungu-Nankpanduri District in the North-East Region.

Similar intelligence was gathered at Garu in the Upper East Region. The activities of these suspicious persons are not known yet.

Terrorism threats: ‘Churches should know their flock’ - Ghana Police Service
A delegation from the National Security Ministry

The National Security Ministry has, therefore, advised all security agencies to be on high alert to avert any possible security breaches.

Gunmen on Sunday, June 5, killed worshipers in Ondo state, South-west Nigeria.

The armed men entered St Francis Catholic Church in the town of Owo during a Sunday service.

The attackers fired into the congregation and kidnapped a priest as well as some other churchgoers, witnesses said.

A Nigerian journalist has thus described the country as a nation in total shock following last Sunday’s church attack in Ondo state.

Layo Olarinde, a correspondent for Channels TV who was speaking on JoySMS on Monday, June 6, said the attack was not expected.

This, she explained, is a result of the peaceful nature of the State within which the attack took place.

“Ondo state is in the south-western part of the country. It is relatively one of the peaceful states in the country. So this attack on Sunday was something that was really shocking and it shook the whole country,” she said.