A traditional circumciser, Chief Abiodun Fatai, has described the practice of cutting female genitals as cruel and harmful, saying it should be stopped immediately.
A circumciser is popularly known as “Oloola” in Yorubaland.
Fatai made the assertions on Wednesday, while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan.
He spoke at a day meeting to validate the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Action Plans in Oyo State.
The circumciser said that other practitioners across the state had done away with the barbaric female circumcision.
Fatai said, “FGM is a cruel practice”, adding that he got to know about the hazard effect of cutting female genitals in 2019 through UNICEF representatives.”
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According to him, the practice had been on from generation to generation before UNICEF officials, in collaboration with the National Orientation Agency (NOA), came to Okeho area to sensitise them on the need to stop the practice.
“Prior to this period, we (circumcisers) and the general public in my area did not know that cutting of female genital is bad.
“But now, we know that the practice is cruel and harmful, as it has no health benefits.
“We have held several meetings where we sensitised our people on the need to abolish the practice and go in line with what the UNICEF is preaching.
“We have agreed on this since 2019 and female genital mutilation has become a thing of the past in Oyo State,” he said.
In her remarks, Mrs Aderonke Olutayo, the UNICEF FGM Consultant in Ekiti, Osun and Oyo, said the event was a validation meeting of all the UNICEF FGM partners in all the local government areas of the state.
“We have developed a two-year work plan; it is important to put a sustainability programme on ground and the stakeholders take ownership of the programme thereafter,” Olutayo said.
She said the Phase III of the project would end in December, adding that it was important that the communities, local governments and households take ownership and put work plan on ground on how to ensure that “our girls and women are protected from been mutilated.”
Also, the State Director of NOA, Mrs Folake Ayoola, urged all the FGM stakeholders to continue doing their best in an effort to end the menace of female genital cutting in their respective communities.
Ayoola said that the sensitisation and awareness campaigns against FGM was already yielding positive results.
She urged all the state residents to do away with the practice, saying that it was “barbaric and inhumane.”
Among the participants were community leaders, representatives of youths, non- governmental organisations, local and state government officials and religion leaders.(NAN)
