The National Centre for Coordination of Early Warning and Response Mechanism (NCCRM) says socio-economic agitations are one of the key early warning signals to violent extremism and counter-terrorism.
In the wake of ongoing conflicts in some parts of the country, the NCCRM has indicated that the government ought to respond swiftly when pockets of such situations occur to avoid disturbing the peace of the country.
At a forum to discuss ways of preventing and containing violent extremism in the northernmost border communities organised by the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) in partnership with the European Union (EU), Director of NCCRM, Colonel Joseph K. Merdiemah urged the government to be proactive.
“The first response is that when you identify lack of social-economic opportunities, from where I come from sometimes conflict is [due] to the deficiencies in the system which bore down to challenges in the public service delivery, the governance system and that provides the catalyst for some of these issues.”
Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), Kathleen Addy disclosed that a project aimed at intensifying public education in violent extremism and counterterrorism will be launched by the end of March this year.