Residents in Osogbo have expressed concerns over the influx of mentally ill persons to the town.

Some residents who spoke with journalists on Monday in Osogbo said the number of such persons on major roads in the town was worrisome.

The respondents called on the state government to urgently address the issue and evacuate them off the streets for rehabilitation or return them to their states.

Biola Awosun, a resident, said some mentally ill persons on the street were victims of their nemesis.

Mr Awosun attributed drug abuse and diabolic activities as some factors responsible for the large number of mental health cases on the streets.

He appealed to the state government to do something urgently to evacuate them off the streets for the safety of the residents.

Another resident, Adenike Faponda, a trader at Ejigbo motor park, believed that some mentally unstable people on the streets were brought from other states.

Ms Faponda urged the government to put such people into psychiatric homes where they could be rehabilitated.

However, Andrew Dosunmu, a psychologist, said the majority of people with mental illness on the streets of Osogbo were a result of drug abuse.

Mr Dosunmu said many psychotropic substances have been introduced into society, and their abuse accounted for a large number of mental disorders.

The psychologist said there were different types of mental cases like schizophrenia, depression and childhood developmental disorders, among others.

“The one that is so persistent, especially in Osun, is among the youth, which is a mental illness caused by drug and substance abuse, which is commonly called addiction.

“It is very high and even alarming, and among the adolescents, from the ages of 16 to 45. This is the period when hard drugs are on the increase,” he said.

Mr Dosunmu said all hands must be on deck to raise the children for a better and brighter future for the youths.

“It is a collective effort of the society; the government cannot do everything alone,” he said.

Also, Dunmilola Akinola, a nurse at Asubiaro Hospital, Osogbo, said the government was doing its best to ensure the necessary attention was given to mentally ill persons in the town.

Ms Akinola, however, urged the state’s task force officers to do more to evacuate such persons from the roads.

Meanwhile, the state government has said it was doing its best to see that mentally unstable people were taken off the streets and rehabilitated.

Richard Oyegbami, the permanent secretary at the Osun Ministry of Environment, told journalists that the ministries of environment and sanitation, youths, sports, and special needs were interrelated and worked together to rehabilitate mentally ill persons.

Mr Oyegbami said the government was doing its best to ensure that mentally ill people were taken off the streets.

“The government is not just watching,” he said. “When they see mentally ill persons, there is a particular place they take them to get them rehabilitated.”

(NAN)