A family has pleaded for help over attempts by relations to circumcise their daughter.
Olushola Mohammed Lawal, an indigene of Osun State, said his aunties have vowed to circumcise his daughter, Ayomide before she clocks one in line with family’s tradition.
Female Genital Mutilation(FGM), according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) is “all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons”.
In most parts of Nigeria, it is carried out on minors, mostly without parental consent. Particularly, female genital mutilation numbers are the highest in Osun State with a rate of 76.6 percent. It is popularly known as Abe Dida in local parlance. Abe Dida, which take many forms, is carried out by a circumciser locally known as Olola in Yoruba using a blade and knife.
The procedure, according to the Olola, is done by cutting the female genitals while mucus of a snail is applied to the injury to aid the healing process as well as stop the bleeding.
Lawal, who is married to Faiza, said Ayomide came after years of infertility and miscarriages.
His aunties approached him to carry out circumcision on their baby during the naming ceremony.
“They told me that it is family’s tradition and it must be done before she is one to protect her and make her fruitful when she is married,” he recounted.
The procedure is a thing of Joy and pride for all females in the family, they insisted, pointing out nobody has been able to avoid it without consequences.
One of them pointed at her three daughters who went under the knife and became ‘women’ before they were one.
It was a rude awakening as he assumed such a procedure was abolished due to awareness on the dangers and negative effects.
Although Osun State enacted a law prohibiting FGM in 2004 to prosecute offenders to a year in prison, a fine of N50,000 or both on first conviction, the law has had little or not effect in reducing the numbers.
This could be attributed to secrecy attributed to the procedure as well as lack of informed knowledge attributed to it disadvantages.
FGM prevails due to cultural as well as economic factors. On a world scale, the United Nations general Assembly unanimously voted to work for the elimination of FGM throughout the world by 2030.
Lawal urged Nigerians to save his daughter from a primitive tradition that he believes does not augur well.