The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has boosted the strength of its Counter-Terrorism Unit with 60 more personnel who completed a three-week advanced military training at the Asutsuare Training Camp of the 64 Infantry Regiment last Friday.
The Customs Counter-Terrorism Unit (CCTU) was formed in 2017 in the wake of threats and attacks from terrorists in the West African sub-region.
Therefore, the Customs Division, a frontline state security service that mobilises revenue for the state at the land borders, the most fragile entry point for such bandits, needed advanced military training to enable their personnel perform dual roles at the borders, which includes fighting any threat of terrorism at Ghana’s borders.
In the 64 Infantry Regiment camp, the 60 personnel, including five females, were taken through rigorous combat fitness training and tests from June 21, this year.
The fitness training included mountaineering exercises of 1.6 kilometres above sea level with a 10kilogramme load pack, crossing water bodies, crawling underneath obstacles and jumping down from heights.
Additionally, the personnel were taught through map reading and basic navigation, safety precautions on the handling of the AK47 rifle, close-quarter drills, tactical combat care and physical fitness and discipline to improve self and group confidence.
The Acting Assistant Commissioner Preventive, George Tettey, a Principal Analyst from National Security, Dr. Baba Sayuti, and other officers from the Customs Division of the GRA and Ghana Immigration Service, led by Captain Peter Kojo Dawaye, Officer Commanding of the Asutsuare Training Camp, who briefed his guests on the tough training and fitness level of the personnel.
To demonstrate their readiness as combatants, Captain Dawaye further led his guests to witness some demonstrations of the rigorous training the personnel underwent.
In his closing remarks, Captain Collins Nkansah, on behalf of the Commanding Officer (CO) of the 64 Infantry Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Frank Agyemang, commended the personnel for enduring the training and the demonstration of readiness to defend the state, especially when the threats to security had changed, given the insurgencies of terrorists in Ghana’s neighbouring countries.
He said Ghana was not insulated from such threats, hence, the need for the CCTU to give its personnel the right training to protect the country’s borders.
He said: “Soldiers are not always the first respondents in such attacks. They (soldiers) only come in to augment the strength of the front lines when the need arises for a backup.”
The personnel were encouraged to keep training on their own to avoid becoming rusty, revise their notes and apply everything they had been taught in the field.
Dr. Baba Sayuti, Principal Analyst at National Security, on his part, urged the personnel to attach professionalism and intelligence in perform their duties.
Dr. Sayuti explained that as the personnel were going out to perform dual roles – gathering intelligence and revenue generation – they should not let their guards down.
“The work in the field is going to test your skills and knowledge and so you need regular practice,” he admonished the CCTU personnel.
Lastly, the Acting Assistant Commissioner Preventive, George Tettey, also the Guest of Honour, urged the personnel to be vigilant and gather and share information and intelligence with the front-line sister security agencies in these fragile times.
More importantly, he charged the personnel to close their ranks with their sister security agencies, as Ghana continues to prepare itself against any threat of terrorism.
Mr. Tettey announced the introduction of the use of drones by the Customs Division of the GRA as another means of gathering information at the borders.
“The Drone Unit will soon be ready after personnel have completed their training on the use of the technology. Besides that, the Customs Division will continue providing such advance military training to its personnel because we need it,” he said.
George Tettey said Customs believed in the competencies of the CCTU and expressed the confidence that the Unit would not disappoint the nation.
