Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo blamed the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike for the rising rate of drug consumption in the state on Friday in Benin.
Gov. Obaseki stated Edo reported 19 drug abuse instances in February, 34 cases in March, and 23 cases in April when reviewing the state's security situation for the months of February, March, and April.
"Drug misuse is becoming our state's second most serious problem.
"Our research indicates that drug consumption has increased significantly in recent months.
The governor stated, "This is not unrelated to the ASUU strike, which has kept many students at home and idle."
Following a joint security meeting between the state administration and representatives from various security agencies in the state, the evaluation was conducted.
I'm taking advantage of this meeting to urge ASUU and the federal government to do everything necessary to terminate the strike as soon as feasible.
"This is in the children's best interests, so we don't keep them at home and ruin their lives.
If kids do not attend school, remember that the idle mind is the devil's workshop. We hope that returning these children to school will help to lessen their drug use.
Some other issue is the rate of accidents. Because of the rains, we've seen a modest decrease.
"We will utilise this platform to continue to urge the Federal Government to restore the major roads heading into Edo, particularly the Benin-Auchi and Okpekpe-Okene routes," he stated.
Road accidents, according to Obaseki, are responsible for a large number of deaths in the state.
He emphasised that the state had seen a decrease in other occurrences, indicating that Edo is growing safer.
Mr Abutu Yaro, the Commissioner of Police in Edo, echoed the governor's views on crime decrease, adding that Edo is safer now than it was previously.