Ebonyi State Government has issued a warning to anyone who practices female genital mutilation saying a jail term of five years awaits such person. The warning was handed out on Tuesday during the flag-off of the campaign against female genital mutilation in the state at the Women Development Centre, Abakaliki.
Governor Dave Umahi’s wife who gave a speech at the occasion, described female genital mutilation as a harmful traditional practice against womanhood, which must end.
“We can’t continue to live in dark ages at the detriment of our women in the name of female circumcision or genital mutilation. Our women have suffered a lot in this traditional harmful practices against them and we must stop it, we must wage serious war against the practice, she said.
‘’A situation where women reproductive organs are butchered in the name cultural practices is no longer unacceptable.”
She noted that in Nigeria, Ebonyi ranks second after Osun State, with 74% prevalence rate of female genital mutilation.
