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‘Circumcise your daughter or we all die!’

By Isaac Agber
05 July 2017   |   1:28 am
There is a pathetic story of Mr. Nwokoma Donald, a young Nigerian parent who is being hounded by his extended family for refusing to allow the circumcision of his daughter, an act that defies age-long tradition of the south-eastern part of the country.

Sir: There is a pathetic story of Mr. Nwokoma Donald, a young Nigerian parent who is being hounded by his extended family for refusing to allow the circumcision of his daughter, an act that defies age-long tradition of the south-eastern part of the country. He has endured trauma as members of his larger family stalk him and threaten him with assault for daring to refuse genital mutilation.

I have heard and read about female circumcision and how it has gained deep roots in some cultures in Africa. No doubt, it is a barbaric practice inflicted on innocent young women. In its most extreme form known as infibulation, it can involve the removal of all external genitalia and the stitching up of the labia leaving only a very small opening for sex, urination, menstruation and giving birth. This often makes a later operation necessary to create a larger opening.

According to reports, a particularly brutal operation can leave a woman with infections ranging from hemorrhage, abscesses and, sometimes, a lifelong loss of sensation during sex.

There have been global objections to the practice of genital cutting by international organisations, especially as it involves circumstances that violate human rights. Amnesty International, a human rights organisation, reports that the operation is often carried out using blunt tools — penknives, fragments of glass or tin cans.

The Pan-African Committee on Traditional Practices estimates that two million girls in Africa undergo genital cutting each year which endangers both their health and their lives. The committee also reports that circumcised women experience chronic pain, chronic pelvic infections, development of cysts, genital ulcers, excessive scar tissue formation, infection of the reproductive system, decreased sexual enjoyment and psychological consequences, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Amnesty International also frowns at the fact that the victims of this barbaric practice are denied of their rights to make a choice on what affects their lives.Donald has since , resorted to moving his family around different locations for fear of being tracked down by these predators and to avoid further contacts and anything that might endanger his life and that of his family.

The sad experience of Donald is one that would elicit pity and rage in any sentient being. Pity in the sense that he, though innocent of the customs, has been frustrated out of his country of birth. Rage in the sense that it involves an innocent young girl whose only crime is that she was born a girl.

Interestingly, the Nigerian government took a historic step in May, 2015, outlawing the practice of female genital mutilation, a move activists have described as “hugely important” in curbing the excesses associated with the custom. But until this enlightenment reaches the grass root, Donald’s daughter and other innocent young girls are still at the mercy of those predators.

According to UNICEF, more than 30 million girls are at risk of being subjected to FGM over the next decade and around 125 million women have undergone the procedure. ‎ There is an urgent need to increase grassroots enlightenment with a view to curb this menace, hoping that Nwokoma’s daughter doesn’t become a victim of this ill wind that blows no one any good.

By ascribing mishaps, bad luck, deaths and all of sorts misfortune to uncircumcised women, the perpetrators are being driven by a strong illusion that is shrouded in falsehood and calumny, one that seeks to destroy the future of innocent young women.
• Isaac Agber wrote from Lagos.

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