From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki
At least ten schoolgirls have been mutilated in Ebonyi State in the past one month for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
The founder of a non-governmental organisation in the state, Tomorrow is a Girl Initiative (TIG), Lucy Ogodo, disclosed this to Daily Sun at the Eke-Aba police station in Ebonyi Local Government Area of the state where one of the practitioners, Aboke Uzoamaka of Ndiegu Okpoitumo community in Abakaliki Local Government Area, was detained after her arrest by the police.
Aboke, after signing an undertaking before the police not to practise the act anymore, said she was not aware that the practice was an offence in the state.
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The 26-year-old mother of three and patent medicine dealer said she was invited by one of the community members to perform the act on her three children to enable them to go back to school and she refused because she was not feeling fine.
She said she agreed after much persuasion to circumcise the girls and that she collected the sum of N6,000 to circumcise the girls.
She told Daily Sun that after the circumcision, a midwife checked the girls and certified them okay and vowed that none of her girl children would be circumcised since she discovered that it was an offence.
“I was arrested by the police for practising Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). I mutilated three girls and no one told me that FGM is now an offence.
“I wasn’t told that FGM is a crime now. I am pleading for mercy; I will not practise it again. I have signed before the traditional ruler of my community that I will not practise it again; I will not try it again.
“I was circumcised in 2010 and the woman who circumcised me told me to watch how she was doing it and from there, I learned how to practise it. But I have never tried it since then until now I did it on three secondary school girls.
“I was called by a woman to come and circumcise her three girl children. I told her I was not feeling fine and she begged me to please come and do it, that the girls were planning to go back to school and their school is very far from our place. After the circumcision, a midwife checked them and certified them okay.
“I have resolved that I will not do such a thing in my life again because of what I am passing through after doing it. I was arrested by the police. I was released because I am pregnant; if not, I would have been in detention because of it.
“I have already signed that I will not do it again and I have started campaigning against it, telling those who are still doing it that it is an offence.
“I have children and none of them will pass through female circumcision; I will not allow anyone to do it on any of my family members or relatives,” she said.
Lucy Ogodo, founder of Tomorrow is a Girl Initiative (TIG) in the state, called for adequate sensitisation in various communities to end the practice.
She said despite public declarations in the communities against the practice, it has persisted.
“Every local government was doing public declaration so that they will tick the mark of the government. So, we realised that any community we go to, traditional rulers will tell you they want to do public declaration and they will gather and do public declaration.
“But what I noticed is that on the surface, they will do public declaration but inside the communities, the practice still persists.
“So, I am now beginning to ask, did we do our due diligence before the public declarations or did the public declarations come first and now shield us from meeting the people who need to hear this because the traditional ruler is one person but the villagers are individuals and they have their own mindset and they also need to be transformed as well,” she stated.
The Chief Programme Officer of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) in the state, Uchenna Umah, said Okpoitumo community has fined Aboke for the practice.
He said the woman was arrested following a tip-off.
“Few weeks ago, we got a report from one of our surveillance-trained members specifically trained by AMURT on ending Female Genital Mutilation that some children were mutilated in Ndiegu Okpoitumo community.
“So, we went there and we were able to see the children after going through the traditional rulers, the village head and town union president of the community. We also saw the person who mutilated them, a patent medicine dealer.
“The community at their level have penalty for anybody who committed FGM which they told us they did at that level; the fine, the goat, the drinks and so many other things. They did that and handed her over to us; we took her to the police.
“After a series of meetings to and fro to the police, they agreed that they will stop mutilating girls in the community and also they will join the campaign to end FGM by reaching out to other people in the community, advocating and sensitising them on why FGM should end,” he said.
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