The Dean of the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Dr. Vladamir Antwi Danso has advised government to invest heavily in gathering intelligence on the terrorist activities at Bawku.

This, according to him, will help the security services develop strategies to win the fight against terrorism in the area.

 “The transaction frontal approach to terrorism does not work because you will not see them. Intelligence gathering is the most important thing now within the Bawku area,” he said.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story on Wednesday, he said the current modus operandi was not direct hence the security agencies must adopt other approaches to win the fight.

“The main thing is that intelligence gathering is constant because this is not a frontal attack system. It’s a transactional kind of doctrinal approach, either than that Boko Haram will be defeated with Nigeria having more than 200,000 men and women in the military but unable to defeat a force of only 4,000,” he said.

Dr. Antwi-Danso stressed that in dealing with terrorists, it was necessary for the state not to underestimate them since they constantly change their approach to violence.

“We do not have to underrate the strength of a small force of even 10 people who are terrorists. Do not underrate them. Intelligence gathering and you will get them one by one. Strategies may change every minute when dealing with terrorists,” he said.

His comments come in the wake of a disclosure by Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul that there has been an attempt to blow up a bridge at Bawku in the Upper East Region.

This is the first time this is happening in the history of the decade-long conflict in the region, and according to the Interior Minister, this happened on Sunday.

“For the first time, Mr Speaker, three days ago, (an) improvised explosive device was used to try to blow a bridge. Don’t let us joke with Bawku,” he said.

He made this revelation while arguing on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, on how the situation in Bawku can be handled to prevent further escalation.

On the back of this, the Dean expressed fear in the fact that the terrorists might call for assistance from other terrorist organisations if they are not stopped immediately.

He added that the terrorists might go a step further to blow up mosques and other places in a bid to get attention which might put fear in the people of Bawku and its environs.