A non-governmental organisation, Alwadata Lifeline Initiative, has described as obnoxious the age-long traditional practice of female genital mutilation on adolescent girls and young women saying that it is a deprivation of the rights of the girl-child in the society.
While celebrating the International Day for Zero Tolerance on Female Genital Mutilation in Bauchi on Saturday, the executive director of the group, Mrs Winifred Robinson Yusuf, said that the organisation was out to dispose the bad practice from the society.
“We are actually working on adolescent girls and young women’s sexual and reproductive health rights. Female genital mutilation is actually against the rights of the girl-child. That is why we are here because it actually centered around adolescent girls and young women,” she said.
Mrs Yusuf explained that the objective of the celebration was to create awareness among the participants.
“We want to let them know that this practice can be harmful to the girl-child. So, any kind of belief they have around it, we want to dispel this misconception. Let them know that it can even cause difficulty when these girls become women, it can even cause infection, and things like that.
“The actual date for the event was on February 6, 2025, but today is Saturday and still we are able to have this engagement, just to create awareness and sensitise the community, and to dispel any form of misconception they have around the issue of female genital mutilation,” she added.
The community leader of Birshin Gandu, Mr Sani Gambo thanked the organisers for the awareness campaign to take place at Birshi Gandu suburb of Bauchi metropolis, saying it would greatly benefit members of the community
Another female participant, Lawiza Al-Amin who also spoke with newsmen during the event, expressed regret that women in their community were mostly being deprived of such opportunities to be educated or enlightened about the dangers inherent in such bad traditional practices.