Air Commodore David Anetey Akrong, Deputy Commandant, Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), has urged security personnel and civil society actors to pool resources to combat violent extremism and the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.

He said due to the fast-evolving and continuously changing strategy of terrorists and violent extremists, no single agency or State could independently deal with the menace.

Air Commodore Akrong said this at the closing ceremony of a 10-day course on “Preventing Violent Extremism, Radicalisation and Small Arms Proliferation in the Sahel and Adjoining Coastal States in West Africa” in Accra.

The course was organised by KAIPTC in partnership with the Government of Japan and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as part of a year-long project on the subject.

It sought to improve knowledge and information-sharing among 25 security personnel and civil society actors in preventing and countering terrorism, violent extremism, and small arms proliferation, diversions and trafficking in seven countries in West Africa, namely: Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.

The Deputy Commandant congratulated participants for availing themselves to receive the training and encouraged them to maintain a strong synergy, share ideas and find innovative solutions to deal with challenges in their respective fields.

He said the course was the first among the capacity development components of the project with the goal of using capacity development, a training trainers’ workshop and a regional policy and experience-sharing seminar to strengthen current approaches to preventing and countering violent extremism and enhancing activities of the Accra Initiative.

The Deputy Commandant thanked the Government of Japan and the UNDP for their unwavering support and collaboration.

Madam Melody Azinim, a UNDP Representative, expressed joy over the success of the training course and advised participants to share the knowledge with their colleagues.

She urged them to remain committed to the peace and security of their respective countries even in the face of challenges.

The Course President, Lieutenant Commodore Jonathan Tantobo of the Ghana Navy, said the Course had equipped participants with practical skills to tackle current and emerging terrorist activities effectively.

“The impact of the field trip to the Army Combat Training School and the Environmental Hazard Awareness Training School cannot be over-emphasised. It broadened our knowledge on small arms and light weapons, armoury management and most importantly, the use and identification of IEDs in our environments.”

“This was cemented with a demonstration by the Police Counter-terrorism Unit at the Detective Training Academy, Tesano. The case studies, real-life scenarios and most importantly, experiences from participants have sharpened our critical thinking and problem-solving abilities,” he said.

He said participants had also developed an appreciation for cultural diversity and how it could serve as a rich resource in enhancing their roles to prevent Violent Extremism, Radicalisation and Small Arms Proliferation.