The United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) and Ekiti State Government have decried the increasing rate of Female Genital Mutilation, (FGM) in the state.
They, however, said that it would take collective efforts from all stakeholders to curb the menace.
UNICEF and the state government made this known at the end of the stakeholders meeting of the State Technical Committee on FGM in Ado-Ekiti on Sunday.
UNICEF Consultant on FGM for Ekiti, Osun and Oyo states, Mrs Aderonke Olutayo, said the agency would render technical support to assist the state government to eliminate the practice in the state.
She commended government determination to prosecute those who perpetrated the act and stressed the need for a legal backing and policy framework to fight the ugly practice.
Olutayo said that the state recorded about 72 per cent in the state, noting that female children between the ages of zero and 14 were victims.
The consultant also noted that some female teenagers and adults, even up to the marriageable age were also circumcised.
She identified cultural and traditional beliefs as being responsible for the practice pointing out that some people saw it as a family heritage which must be stopped.
“Some of those who perform the genital mutilation are unskilled. They do it with primitive and unsterilised equipment and do damage to human parts.
“The World Health Organisation had a law prohibiting this practice and it has been domesticated in Nigeria, particularly in Ekiti State.
“I want to appeal that the laws must be implemented to protect the lives of our women,” she said.
Declaring open the technical committee meeting, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Olurotimi Ojo, decried the prevalence rate of the female genital mutilation in the state.
The commissioner was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Ayotunde Omole.
He charged members of the committee to join hand with government in eradicating the menace in the state.
According to him, the practice which is prevalent in the rural areas must be nipped in the bud with concerted efforts from officials of Primary Healthcare because of their proximity to the grassroots.
He said that over 72 per cent cases were reported in Ekiti, ranking the state high in the prevalence of the harmful practice and urged stakeholders to join in the campaign against the act.
He pointed out that FGM had done more harm to women that had been cut, saying the victims were either carrying lifetime infectious diseases like HIV, barrenness, hemorrhage, broken home due to sexual non-satisfaction and other associated problems.
The commissioner said the programme was meant to mobilise the younger generation against the practice and identify ways to end the practice.
He described genital mutilation as “a flagrant infringement of the rights of the female gender,” and urged the government at all levels to stop the menace in the overall interest of motherhood.
The commissioner explained that the state had domesticated the law banning the practice in the state and warned that anyone caught still engaging in the practice would be prosecuted.
He charged the womenfolk, whom he described as “the real victims” to intensify their campaign against cutting of the female genitals, to create more awareness.
In his remarks, the UNICEF Consultant on FGM/C for Ebonyi and Imo states, Mr Ben Mbakwem, charged the participants to see the campaign against FGM as an activism to rescue women from an unprofitable traditional practice.
He said that all efforts should be mobilised to eliminate the practice in the state.
The meeting was attended by stakeholders from the UNICEF, National Orientation Agency, Ministry of Women Affairs, the Nigeria Police, NSCDC, Media, trade union and professional organizations and Non Governmental Organisations. (NAN)
