Religious leaders, the media, youth and social media influencers have been urged to join in on the fight against violent extremism in the East and Horn of Africa region.
This as the IGAD Centre for Centre for Prevention and countering violent Extremism. (ICEPCVE) opened a 3 day workshop training non-state actors on countering violent extremism.
Sheikh Ibrahim Lethome, an Islamic scholar said times have changed as terrorist organizations are moving to social medial networks in the search for recruits.
“At one point our governments thought this was a security problem so we securitized the interventions and the results are that Alshabab is still very active, they are still doing what they have been doing sometimes even more than when we came in with the security measures” he said adding that
“This is a lesson for everybody that we should not look at it as a purely security issue. It is security, religion, media has a role to play, parents have a role to play, our educational institutions have a role to play and all other stakeholders.”
Revealing some of the tricks used by Terrorists to advance their agenda, Sheikh Lethome debunked the narratives that Islam supports killing non-muslims saying instead that the Holy Quran forbids killing anyone.
“The Quran is clear, Killing one soul is as bad as killing the whole humanity. It is one of the gravest sins in Islam Not only that even killing an animal is a sin unless you are killing it for food or in self-defence.” Sheikh Lethome said
“The Prophet Peace be upon him has taught us that you are not a believer unless your neighbour feels safe around you. You are not a true believe if you don’t love for others what you love for yourself.”
The cleric also urged states to identify push and pull factors in order to understand what leads young people into the arms of terror organizations like Alshabab.
The persons of influence from IGAD member states like Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, South Sudan and Sudan will spend the next 3 days learning new trends in radicalization and how to counter messages meant to radicalise youth for recruitment into terrorist organizations.
Dr. Simon Nyambura the Director of the Igad Centre for Prevention and countering violent Extremism. (ICEPCVE) who presided over the opening of the workshop said of the
“This workshop is unique in itself because we have brought together religious leaders, youth leaders and influencers, these are critical members of society who play an important role in shaping the way society look at things.”
Strategic communications utilized by violent extremist organizations not only aim to succinctly radicalize and recruit but also shape perceptions and polarize the support of target audiences.
Dr. Nyambura says there is hope that the participants of this workshop will create counter messages to those being disseminated by the terrorists;
“We are hoping that within this workshop we shall be able to deepen their understanding on the narratives that violent extremist groups use and with that understanding we will be able to develo alternative and counter messages towards the challenges and undermine extremist ideologies” he said
WHAT THEY SAY
