I’m currently suffering from this barbaric tradition – Another victim
Even law enforcement agencies could not rescue my daughters , mother laments
By Arije Amidu
With the law forbidding and the incessant campaign against the practice of Female Genital Mutilation, FGM, by many Human Rights Organisations and health bodies, many have concluded that this obnoxious practice, especially in the Southern and Eastern parts of the country, is long wiped out of existence in the country.
Bu the war seems not to be over, as incidences pointing to the prevalence of the practice still play up.
Some weeks ago, a Junior Secondary School 2 student, in Sango-Ota area of Ogun State reportedly lost her life while the act was being carried out on her. Although investigations on the matter was shrouded in secrecy, it was gathered that the 13-year-old girl, simply identified as Idayatu, was being ‘operated’ upon when she went into coma due to the huge pains and loss of blood often encountered in the process.
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She was reportedly rushed to a private hospital when the matter went beyond what the traditional attendant could handle. The victim’s mother, Mrs. Busiratu Alogba, it was gathered, had earlier refused circumcision on her daughter but her husband had to give in to family threats not to re-write tradition, but must submit his daughter for the act.
Speaking to reporters, Mrs.Alogba said: “I can tell you that it is such a stupid thing. I remember when my mother-in-law first raised the issue, I rejected it and my husband supported me. It was weeks after my husband went to his village for a burial that he came home, saying Idayatu must be circumcised,” she said in tears.
The debate over the desirability or otherwise of female circumcision in some cultures has been raging for long. Many families had been scattered and several victims condemned as a result of this heinous act.
Mrs. Omotayo Joana Salami, one of the few people, who dared tradition is presently on self-exile from her community. She spoke to The Nigerian Xpress about her ordeal in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, where she lived with her four kids and husband.
According to her, “What is my saddest experience in life happened on June 10, 2018 at about 10:00am when my twin daughters, Emma and Ella, were forcefully taken from our home in Ibadan, Oyo State, by one of my husband’s relatives, under the guise of tradition and customs for them to be circumcised, which is simply female genital mutilation and nothing more. They were five years old at the time. I was taken aback and resisted vehemently that this would not happen but all my pleas fell on deaf ears. Despite this, my daughters were taken away.”
Mrs. Salami added that her husband’s family had insisted on carrying out circumcision on her twin girls since birth but she and her husband refused to give in. She said threats accompanied with harassment were meted out to her family on daily basis.
Continuing her narration, she stated that it took the timely intervention of her neighbours and law enforcement agencies to rescue her girls from a traditional birth/health centre where the circumcision was about to be carried out on them.
The distraught mother said she was physically assaulted before her daughters were forcefully taken away.
“I don’t know what would have happened if people around had not waded into the matter. My girls would have been violated and gone through a harrowing experience in the name of a family tradition.
“Unfortunately, law enforcement agencies can’t really protect my daughters against Female Genital Mutilation. Consequently, my husband, Rawlings, and I resolved that in order to protect our daughters from physical and emotional harm, we had to flee the country. It’s so shameful,” she said.
That case was similar to the experience of one Ronke Kazeem, a teacher at a private secondary school in Abeokuta, Ogun State, who was divorced by her husband because she refused to submit her 14-year-old daughter for circumcision.
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According to Madam Kazeem, “I am currently suffering from a tradition that inflict pains on human being and because I rejected it for my daughter. My then husband came up with a story that our daughter must be circumcised according to his people’s tradition but I said ‘No’.
“That led to serious quarrel between us and eventually I left the house with my two children and he has never looked back to check on us. I am happy with my decision to prevent my daughter from being circumcised,” she concluded.
Speaking on the the medical effects of FGM, a medical doctor, Rasheed Ibikunle, said: “If female circumcision is done well, there is no harm in it but it seems so many people that try to do it end up mutilating the genital of the girl due to its very small size unlike the long genital of male, in view of this shortage of experts to do female circumcision and the high probability of mutilating the genital in the course of the procedure.”
However, the medical doctor stated that it is harmful to the girl child if not properly carried as, as it may lead to her having pains during sex and possible complications at child birth.
“FGM destroys the normal shape of the clitoris and other parts of the genitals. It has high possibility of bleeding, infection of the genitals, and the psychological trauma the girl will bear for the rest of her life when she grows up and starts sexual activity due to painful sex, damaged urethra, urinary incontinence, scar of the genital, increased risk of HIV and complications during childbirth,” he said.