The public has been urged to take the necessary safety precautions in the wake of recent cases of kidnappings and other crimes.

Citizens are cautioned not to walk alone in obscure areas and at odd times, and they should familiarise themselves with their surroundings to find possible areas to seek refuge when attacked, and also avoid showing off their wealth in public to safeguard them from attacks.

Mr George Dosoo Doyen, the Security Awareness Programme’s coordinator of Doyen's Leverage, a security training agency, gave the advice in a presentation on the topic: “Educating Citizens to be safe" at the National Peace Council (NPC) on Friday in Accra.

He said most often than not, individuals exposed themselves to attackers by being too accommodating to strangers and asked parents to teach their children not to be too comfortable around strangers.

“The days of being welcoming and co-operative to strangers are over, parents should implore their children to keep their distance when talking to people they don’t know to avoid them from being kidnapped”, he said.

He pleaded with parents not to put pressure on their unemployed children as it could push them into things they would regret later and cautioned the public to wary of people who normally carried big bags packs or behaved abnormally at public places, such as sweating profusely even in an air-conditioned room.

Mr George Amoh, the Acting Executive Secretary of the NPC, expressed gratitude to the Doyen’s Leverage for choosing to sensitize the management and staff of the Council.

He said as safety was a shared responsibility and everyone had a role to play, the council would also make it a point to disseminate the information to others.