BY AGNES NWORIE, ABAKALIKI
Traditional rulers and other stakeholders in Ezza North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State have reaffirmed their readiness to end female genital mutilation in their communities.
They expressed the resolve recently in an interview with the Point at the sideline of a sensitization programme by the United Nations International Children’s Fund against the prohibitive practice.
The head of Omege community in Ezza North Local Government Area of the state, Christopher Igboke-Ewa, said that the residents of the community had been adequately sensitized by the UNICEF.
He said that “We no more practice female genital mutilation in my community courtesy of in-depth and constant enlightenment campaigns from UNICEF. They took it upon themselves to organize sensitization seminars for different groups of people like the traditional rulers ,clergy, health workers, judicial workers, mothers, school girls, market women, paramilitary officers etc.
“Nobody will claim not to have gotten the message. We learnt that some mothers and relatives still massage the clitoris, to that effect we have made a law that any person caught will be penalized.
“We are grateful to UNICEF for the job well done so far.”
Another traditional ruler, David Nworie, of Nkomoro community stated that “FGM is now a forgotten issue in my community and the Ezza North Local Government Area and the state in general. This is because we are now fully aware that the practice had done more harm than any good to our women and children courtesy of UNICEF.”
