Help! Before Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Claims Another Victim, By Oluwasegun Aderounmu
I cannot help but to raise the alarm that the culprits of female circumcision, are at it again! This is still happening years after the dastardly act of female circumcision had been roundly denounced and condemned all over the world as nothing but female genital circumcision. This is because female circumcision is known to have no health benefits, whatsoever, rather, it is known to be a life threatening procedure, that has left many female children and young women, disfigured, scarred, traumatised for life or sent to their early graves, by the wicked and desperate perpetrators of this age-long, but inhuman act against women. Besides, it is usually performed by traditional circumcisers or cutters who do not have any medical training. Anaesthetics and antiseptics are not generally used and it is often carried out using knives, scissors, scalpels, pieces of glass or razor blades, against the warning of the World Health Organisation (WHO), while it has been prohibited in Nigeria. So, the culprits are liable to a jail term, yet they are adamant to stop the evil act.
This brings me to my family’s traumatising experience in the hands of circumcisers who are desperate to circumcise my daughter, saying it is in line with our culture, or to kill her if I refuse. My name is Mr. Oluwasegun Aderounmu and my wife is Mrs. Oluwafunmilayo Aderounmu, while our baby, who is being hunted to be circumcised or killed is Michelle Aderounmu, who was six months old when we took refuge in a day care centre. We lived at Adetunji Estate, Oshogbo, the capital city of Osun State, Nigeria. But my village known as okaka village in Oyo State, Nigeria. There was an ancient cultural practice of circumcising every first daughter when she turns three months old. We were aware of this and considered it to be a barbaric and outdated culture, so both I and my wife knew ahead that we will not be handing over our baby to be circumcised, but little did we know of the evil capacity and sheer desperation of the circumcisers and the length they are prepared to go in preserving their dangerous culture. If uncircumcised, Michelle is considered a taboo, so we are expected to present our daughter for circumcision or what is better described as female genital mutilation.
Rather than endanger our daughter’s life, my wife and I refused to co-operate with the circumcisers in the community. They consider our refusal to be a grievous offence punishable by death of the child, as our daughter would then be sacrificed to the gods of the land, as no uncircumcised first female child from the community is allowed to continue living, but such an uncircumcised child must be sacrificed to appease the gods.
It was unimaginable to us that our daughter should be circumcised or used for human sacrifice, so we decided to seek refuge at Bright Beginner Day Care, Osogbo, Osun State. But at about 1130 hours of 10th June, 2021, baby Michelle was unlawfully taken away by an unknown group of people from Bright Beginner Day Care. Confused, distraught and much afraid for our daughter’s safety, I and my wife reported a case of kidnapping to the police. Upon receipt of the case, it was incidented and referred to the Anti- Kidnapping Section for indept investigation and report. During the course of investigation, the missing child was recovered. The police said that, “it is evident that a family conspiracy led to the kidnapping act.”
Subsequently, I and my wife (the complainants) were advised by the police to keep our daughter, in a hiding place while efforts are being intensified to fish out the culprits of the kidnapping act. Remember that they started threatening and chasing after us when Michelle was just three months old, saying according to the culture, she ought to had been circumcised at three months. That was why my family was forced to keep the whereabouts of my daughter unknown as advised by the Nigeria police. We are perpetually afraid that the culprits, having shown what they are capable of doing by kidnapping a baby, would know no rest until they are finally able to carry out their planned evil deed, which is either to mutilate her genitals or to kill her in a most bizarre human sacrifice. As far as the circumcisers are concerned, my family must choose between Michelle’s circumcision or death. But against all odds, I and my wife are determined that our daughter must not go through the traumatising experience of female genital mutilation, while preserving her right to life.
