FIDA Eradicates Female Circumcision In Oyigbo

The International Federation of Female Lawyers (FIDA) says as part of its fight against harmful traditional practices, it has succeeded in stopping Female Genital Cutting (FGC) in Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Making this known in an exclusive interview in Port Harcourt recently, the state Vice Chairperson of FIDA, Uchenda Bibian Okogbule, said the feat was achieved through awareness campaign carried out on the women of Oyigbo in 2018.
She explained that after the campaign, which enlightened the women of the laws against the practice and its implications, the women mobilised against FGC in their communities.
“When we went back in April (2018), the chiefs we met first told us that immediately we left after our first visit, the women took it upon themselves to mobilise against FGC in the community.
“They went to the traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) and told them to stop FGC or face the wrath of the law.
“They informed the TBAs that lawyers had come to the community and that any one that indulges in FGC will be imprisoned for five years”, she said.
She continued that “by the time we met the women, they narrated the same story. So, as I talk to you now, I can announce that FGC is a thing of the past in Oyigbo”, she concluded.
Okogbule stated that FIDA has also carried out the same awareness campaign in Abua, and would go back to to find out the effect and result of the campaign.
The choice of Oyigbo and Abua as points for the campaign, she explained, is because the two areas are noted for their practices of harmful traditional practices.
Oyigbo traditionally carries out FGC when the child is eight days old, while in Abua it is done when the woman is pregnant.

Sogbeba Dokubo