He explained that the workers were on strike to call government’s attention to the lingering issue of the non-payment of 24 months arrears of monetization owed medical health workers in the country, adding that workers in the health sector were also aggrieved by the decision of the government to demote some of their members who had got to CONTISS 10 and above by a grade level.

“I am aware that Edo state has the best wood around this part of the world and economic agents would want to explore this to the benefit of the state”, the governor stated.

He said, “The only true militants that I see are those who felt a sense of nationalism, because they felt the area, Niger Delta, not the nine states being touted as Niger Delta, have been oppressed and marginalised and decided to take up arms rightly or wrongly.”

So, all the palliative measures will come and at the end of the day, it will still not solve the problem. It is the development of the Niger Delta that is the solution to the problem,” she said.

Aregbesola is also seeking an order of the court to restrain Osun State government from arresting him in connection with the bomb blast that rocked the state secretariat, Abeere on July 14, 2007.