Group takes fight against female genital mutilation to schools

Disturbed by the rising cases of female genital mutilation and cutting in some parts of the country, the Centre for Social Values and Early Childhood Development (CESVED), has said it would embark on awareness campaign against the practice in six states.

Speaking with The Guardian yesterday in Owerri while presenting prizes to three secondary school students at Development Secondary School, in Owerri, the Imo State capital, National President of the group, Mrs. Gift Abu, accompanied by its state coordinator, Augustine Enyi, said the states to be visited include Ekiti, Osun, Ondo, Ebonyi, Imo and Cross River.

She insisted that women should be left the way they were created, adding that students should raise the alarm any time they see such acts in their vicinities and report to the appropriate authorities for action.

Abu regretted that the health hazards associated with female genital mutilation, especially among local women, cannot be over emphasized, adding that the practice had killed no fewer than 8, 000 women and girls.