Following the operations of terrorist organisations in the subregion, Ghana's National Security has warned religious entities of probable terrorist strikes.
According to the National Security, procedures have been put in place in coordination with other stakeholders to prevent any prospective threats.
It did, however, warn religious organizations to be vigilant and take precautions like as installing closed-circuit televisions (CCTVs) in places of worship and hiring licensed private security firms.
"It is imperative that all stakeholders take precautionary measures in light of the growing threats of terrorism from the subregion and the expansionist drive of terrorist groups towards Coastal West African states, with a renewed modus operandi of targeting public gatherings including places of worship," a statement said.
According to a recent assessment produced by the West Africa Centre for Counter Extremism (WACCE), Ghana has managed to avoid terrorist assaults on its soil thus far, despite being so near to terrorists.
More than 13 Ghanaians are suspected to have traveled to fight with terrorist organizations since 2015, according to the research. Another twenty-three (23) people have been discouraged from joining extremist organisations.
"In August 2015, Nazir Alema Norteye, a young university graduate, abruptly departed the nation to join ISIS before sending a message back to his parents to declare his new found cause."
"By April 2016, he had been slain in Syria." Professor Kofi Awoonor, a distinguished Ghanaian poet and professor, was assassinated when AShabab gunmen surrounded the West Gate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya in 2013," according to the article.
The menace has lately decimated the northern borders of not just Burkina Faso, but also Ivory Coast, Benin, and Togo, as a result of a spillover occurrence. Ghana has descended from the Sahel to the Coastal States in the previous five years, with all of its direct neighbors under threat.
"Although the number of fatalities in the region has decreased from a high of nearly 7,200 in 2014, the threat has grown in complexity and geographical scope."
Today, the danger has enveloped 53% of the ECOWAS region. This is a hazardous situation for Ghana.
"Ghana's closeness to these nations (Burkina Faso to the north, Benin and Togo to the east, and the Ivory Coast to the west) exposes the country to extremist recruitment or assaults or both," the report continued.
The "unending Bawku chieftaincy struggle, ethnic tensions in Northern Ghana, and the unsolved problem of Western Togoland separatists in the Eastern border areas compound the threats," according to the report.