By Victor Nwachukwu
Some stakeholders in Imo have lauded the UNICEF and National Orientation Agency (NOA) for their sustained efforts to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the two organisations have continued to champion the campaign against the unwholesome practice in the state.
They have held several advocacy and sensitisation programmes in different local government areas (LGAs) of the state, especially Ehime Mbano LGA, where the practice is said to be more prevalent.
A NAN correspondent, who visited Ehime Mbano on Saturday, reports that critical stakeholders in the area said they had embraced the campaign to end the phenomenon.
The Chairman, Council of Traditional Rulers in the LGA, Eze Geoffrey Ejimogu, thanked UNICEF and NOA for their commitment in organising community dialogues toward ending the practice.
Ejimogu said that his people had become properly enlightened about the long-term health and psychological implications of the practice.
He said that their women and female children had started showing strong commitment to the abolition of the “olden days’ practice”.
He said that in line with an agreement reached on Nov. 14, 2020 by community stakeholders to end FGM in the LGA, a surveillance system was introduced “to track the birth of every girl child”.
The royal father said the measure was designed to ensure that the girl child was not subjected to genital mutilation.
“We have been sensitised about the consequences of FGM and this has awakened our consciousness and commitment to abolish the practice,” he said.
Also, the Secretary of traditional rulers’ council, Eze Boniface Onuoha, from Umunakanu Community, thanked the support partners for their efforts to end the sufferings of the girl child in the area.
According to Onuoha, the fight against FGM in the area has begun and will continue until it is finally eradicated.
The Secretary of Ikpe-Nsu Community Women’s Association, Mrs Agnes Njoku, was full of praise for UNICEF and NOA.
Njoku pledged to continue to advocate an end to FGM and other forms of violence against women and girls.
A cleric, Mr Jerry Atuzie, said that many persons practiced FGM out of ignorance of its social and health implications.
identified some of the implications as marital instability and excessive bleeding, which could result in death.
He said, “Some promoters of the practice claim that it reduces promiscuity among girls but with proper enlightenment by UNICEF and its partners, we now know better.”
The Imo Coordinator, Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, Mrs Ngozi Ejike, thanked UNICEF and State Government for supporting the enactment of the Imo Child Rights Law (2014) and Imo FGM Prohibition Law No. 006 of 2017.
She said the laws had created the enabling environment for speedy dispensation of justice against FGM offenders.
NAN reports that Mr Victor Atuchukwu, the Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF, Enugu Field Office, had said at a recent town hall meeting in the state that the organisation, in collaboration with support partners, would continue to campaign against the practice. (NAN)
