Community leaders monitor girls in Osun to prevent circumcision

The battle to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Osun State recorded more successes at the weekend as community leaders and champions intensified efforts to stop the practice.

Osun is rated as one of the states with high prevalence of FGM in Nigeria, and the state government and community leaders, with the support of development partners, are making efforts to stop the practice.

A community leader at Ajagba in Ola-Oluwa Local Government Area of the state, AbdulJabar Afeez, said the community has put measures in place to monitor every newborn girl and keep eyes on all female children in the community to ensure that they are not circumcised.

Also, one of the residents at Asa community in the area, Mrs Modupe Oyeyemi, said she wanted to circumcise her daughter but one of the community leaders persuaded her not to do so and that she was convinced eventually and agreed not to circumcise her daughter.

Similarly, residents of other communities in the area including Idiya, Ajagunlase, Asa and Ajagba, at a public declaration of FGM abandonment organised by Action Health Incorporated (AHI) in collaboration with United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Ministry of Health and State Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, said the practice is now forbidden in the areas.

The community leaders, Chief Maruf Adewuyi, Alhaji Abdul Jabbar Afeez, Malam Wahab Wakeel, and Mr Ogbe Nicholas, while speaking on behalf of their communities, said they have vowed to end the practice, having realised its harmful consequences on girls and women

AHI representative, Miss Abdulrasheed Nuriyah, said the objective of the exercise was to ensure total eradication of FGM practice and secure the future of the female children.

The Focal Point Person of FGM in the state, Mrs Aduke Obelawo, reiterated that FGM is a dangerous practice and commended the communities for their commitment to end the practice.

The Gender Desk Officers, Ministries of Health, Women, Children & Social Affairs, Toyin Adelowokan, and Ms. Olufunmilola Adewale said the communities had been sensitised on the danger of FGM and that the state government was committed to ending the scourge.