By Osiregbeme Abuullah Egbakhime, Benin
A mother and survivor of Female Genital Mutilation, (FGM) has opened up on how lack of fund saved her last two daughters from going through the pain of genital mutilation.
Narrating how the daughter were saved at a-two day Media Dialogue to support advocacy to end Female Genital Mutilation in Nigeria, in Benin, she said her first three daughters had already been circumcised.
The mother of six who didn’t want her name printed as part of efforts to protect her daughters, said she was not aware of the effect of the practice on the girl-child.
“I have six children, a boy and five girls. I have already done for my first three children, but when I gave birth to my fifth girl, there was no money to circumcise her hence I postponed it to a later date,” she explained.
She said after given birth to her last daughter, she took the two of them for circumcision but the money given to her by her husband wasn’t enough to cover the fees demanded.
According to her, she still plan to go back this year, as they said, when a woman is not circumcised, she wouldn’t stay with one husband.
“The were between 12 and nine years then, I was asked to pay N12,000 each for the two of them” she said.
She said before she could raise money for their circumcision, a female chemist, introduced FGM programme to her which opened her eyes to the danger of such practice.
“I have now become a staunch advocate against female genital mutilation,” she noted.
She advised all parents to join the crusade against harmful practice in the country.
