The presence of two ex-Guantanamo Bay detainees in Ghana has made the West African country a possible target for a terrorist attack, a retired police officer has warned.
Retired Police Inspector, Michael Asamoah, who said this on Adom FM’s Morning Show, ‘Dwaso Nsem’ on Wednesday argued that Ghana was placed on the map of the terrorists following our government’s decision to host the two Yemenis.
“We are now under the watchful eye of the entire world because of the Gitmo 2 we brought here and we can’t run away from that fact…,” he said.
President Mahama at the beginning of the year agreed to a request by the Government of the United States of America (USA) to resettle two-ex-detainees of the Guantanamo Bay in the country.
The two, Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby, according to President John Mahama were considered as low-risk persons after screening.
In the face of objections by an overwhelming majority of the population, President Mahama called on Ghanaians to “show compassion”.
Several Ghanaians, both home and abroad have since kicked against the decision to host the two, especially after a number of US Senators questioned Ghana’s prison system and called on their government to cut aid to Ghana if the two men escape or re-engage in terrorism.
And the ex-police officer, reacting to an alert by Ghana’s National Security Office that the terror threat to Ghana is credible, said the West African country became a country of interest to the terrorists the moment their associates were relocated here.
“…Information was extracted from them by Americans, and the terrorists would want to know how much information was given to America by them enabling America to combat them…,” he argued further.
In addition to National Security Office’s call for the public to be cautious in their dealings, Insp Michael Asamoah said there is the need for Ghana to tackle the factors that breed terrorism.
“We ought to look at the factors that bring about terrorism…we ought to watch which sides we take in international relations…it would be best to go back to Nkrumah’s idea of positive neutrality,” he said.
These factors include solving issues of unemployment and governance issues.
“When you are poor and someone helps you, it affects your way of thinking and we must watch out on that,” he said.
Source: adomonline.com
