I have been asking myself lots of questions on security and have decided to venture some opinions on some issues of security through a series of security related articles.
There have been mass hysteria these last few weeks regarding expected terror attacks on Ghana. Already, our friends from Cote d’ivoire and Burkina Faso have had their share of terrorist attacks. Don’t forget that the old woman feels uneasy whenever dry bones are mentioned in a story.
TB Joshua; the widely acclaimed Nigerian Prophet stoked some flames when he reportedly announced in a hazy manner that a terrorist attack on Ghana was imminent. He is not the only man of God (so called) to have stoked such a flame in one way or the other.
Most often than not, people wrongly define what a terrorist attack is. What people should know is that there can be acts of terrorism without any killing. What people don’t know is that acts of terror have been committed on Ghanaian soil and continue to be perpetrated.
So inasmuch as terrorism makes use of violence, violence comes in several forms.
Anything done with the intention of intimidating or coercing a civilian population or influencing the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion qualifies as an act of terror.
For the FBI, investigation of the attacks of 9/11—code-named “PENTTBOM”—was their largest investigation ever. At the peak of the case, more than half their agents worked to identify the hijackers and their sponsors and, with other agencies, to head off any possible future attacks. They followed more than half-a-million investigative leads, including several hundred thousand tips from the public. The attack and crash sites also represented the largest crime scenes in FBI history. The 9/11 attacks were the most lethal terrorist attacks in history, taking the lives of 3,000 Americans and international citizens.
Yes those who died have been illegally and unfairly deprived of their lives but let’s wrap our minds around the fear and scars left on the minds of those who survived, the work the security agencies like the FBI dealt with, the resources that went into bringing life back to normal for those left after 9/11.
By that stretch, those who died during the 9/11 attacks on the US were not the real victims of terrorism but rather, those who had to live with it. Those who had to keep watching their backs for fear of further attacks were the real victims of 9/11. Those who died were victims of mass murder not terrorism.
Osama Bin Laden for instance was charged with mass murder and terrorism. Charles Taylor of Liberia was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity but not terrorism despite the number of people killed. Many have been killed in acts that were not considered terrorism though they were murdered or their lives were wrongfully taken from them.
The target of terrorists is really not those who die but those who have to live with the knowledge and fear of similar attacks, those who live and grief for their lost spouses and children. Children who live and grow up without fatherly or motherly love and care.
So if a man like TB Joshua sits in his church in Nigeria and causes mass hysteria in Ghana, he is a terrorist (though that may not have been his intention). He has committed an act of terror against Ghana by causing people to live in fear. This reveals that people can and are propagating terrorists agenda in the country unconsciously. They do not intend to do that but actually, that’s what they are doing.
Terrorism is not defined by the fact that people have been killed nor even by the number of people killed or hurt but rather by the act of a group of people gleefully coming out to “take responsibility” for the attack; saying that “we did it, and you can expect more if our outrageous demands are not met”.
When an extremist group; Boko Haram, on the night of 14–15 April 2014, kidnaps about 276 female students from a Government Secondary School in the town of Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria, that is not a terrorist attack. That is kidnapping or abduction. However, coming out to claim responsibility for the kidnappings as Boko Haram did, is what makes it an act of terror.
I use TB Joshua because of the effect his “prophecy” had on Ghana and residents of Ghana and also because his proclamations are the most recent and freshest in memory. Other so called men of God have treaded similar paths.
Even more unfortunately, our political talk radio commentators commit acts of terror on Ghana and our politicians who vow to bring Sulphur and brimstone down upon Ghana if they lose elections also commit acts of terror against Ghana and on Ghanaian soil.
