The Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki, has called on the federal government to declare a state of emergency on cultism and drugs.
Obaseki made the call on Thursday in Benin while launching the Edo Command and Control Centre (ECC).
“There should be a declaration of national emergency on the usage of harmful drugs and cultism particularly among the youth in the country,” he said.
He described cultism and drug abuse as the key drivers of crimes and criminal activities in the state.
“These two key drivers of crimes require national efforts to deal with,” he added.
Obaseki said the centre was to empower security forces with the latest technology, streamlined communication and real-time intelligence.
“Between 2017 and 2020, when the state government started the collation of data on criminal incidents, the state recorded an astronomical rise in crimes across the state,” he stated.
He said the prevalent crimes in the state included armed robbery, kidnapping, murder, homicide, cultism and drug abuse.
