Police, NSCDC to Arrest Violators of Female Genital Mutilation in Ekiti

By Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

Following Ekiti State’s ranking as the second in the country in the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), security agencies Thursday made a commitment for the arrest and prosecution of violators of the state’s Child’s Rights Act and female Genital Mutilation Prohibition Law 2002.

In a two-day training workshop organised by non-governmental organisations (NGO) in Ado-Ekiti Ekiti under the aegis of New Generation Girls and Women Development Initiative (NIGAWD) and Centre for Women’s Health and Information (CFWHI), the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) signed a pact with the NGOs on the subsequent arrest and prosecution of culprits.

The workshop, funded by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), held
the training for men and officers of the Force drawn from the 16 local
government areas of the state on the adverse effects of the practice.

In her presentation, the CFWHI’s Executive Director, Mrs Adebanke Akinrinmisi, expressed regret over the upsurge of genital mutilation in the South-west in spite of laws prohibiting it.

Akinrinmisi said the training was targeted as sensitising and entering into a pact with the security agencies on the need to gather
veracious information on perpetrators to stop the practice, which had damaged the lives of over 200 million population globally.

Details later…