Terror alert: Security in church premises a necessity – CCG

The General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana(CCG), Rev. Dr. Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong has charged religious leaders to endeavour to get security personnel to man their premises to respond to any security threat that may confront them.

Ghana is becoming proactive in security measures in the wake of the increasing wave of terrorism in the sub-region and the possible threat of Ghana as a target.

The government has even set up a Counter-Terrorist unit to work to avert any imminent danger of bloodshed by the activities of terrorists in the country.

But Dr. Opuni Frimpong feels the terror alert must be trickled down to church premises, and all places where people gather to respond appropriately in the event of any confrontation by suspicious people.

“Some years ago we didn’t have the challenge we are addressing now; so such tight security was not an issue for us, but we must accept the realities now that something has changed and therefore we must respond to the changes in our time,” Rev. Dr. Opuni Frimpong told Accra-based Citi FM.

He added: ” we’ve reached a point that security in church premises at the moment is a necessity.”

When asked whether the protection of God isn’t enough to make the Church shrug off the human security being sought for, the Rev. Minister said it’s always prudent to combine divine intervention with human action, insisting that God has strategically gifted man with wisdom, professionals, experts to deal with such kind of situation.

“God will do what God will do but human beings must do what human beings are supposed to do,” he said.

There is heightened escalation of radical Islamist terrorism in the West African sub-region, pushing governments in the region to place their states on terror alert.

Security experts have said that public places including hotels, restaurants, malls and other public places that attract a lot of people, foreigners are prone to attacks.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and its affiliates launched an attack in Mali in November 2015, one in Burkina Faso in January, and the latest on Ivory Coast earlier in March. On March 16, Boko Haram also attacked a mosque in Maiduguri, Nigeria, killing at least twenty-two people.