Mother of two cries out against mutilation of daughters, attack

Ondo State Capital, Akure.

Middle-aged woman and mother of two, Mrs. Oluwakemisola Falade, and her spouse, have urged government and Civil Societies Organisations (CSOs) to save her family from the community over non-compliance with forceful circumcision of her daughters. 

Falade, who lives in Ifira, Akoko South-East Council of Ondo State, refused to allow the community to carry out the age-long tradition of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM) on her daughters. 

Consequently, the community, despite international outcries and campaigns against the cultural practice, threatened to attack the family if they insist on their stance. 

The Guardian learnt that Mrs. Falade, a businesswoman, has suffered serial abuse and dehumanisation from some family elders and community leaders. 

She recounted that the disagreement with family elders started when her first daughter, who was born in 2008, clocked the age of four and was reminded of the cultural practice by her relatives during a family function, which stipulates that a female child must be circumcised between the ages of six months to 10 years.

She, however, disclosed that she managed to convince the family elders to give her some time to perform the rite, as she was pregnant with her second child, pledging to do so immediately after delivery.

She added that since the delivery of her second daughter in late 2012, she has been coming up with excuses to the family elders and community leaders to shield her daughters from being circumcised.

“In September this year, my husband and I were summoned to a meeting with family elders, where they instructed us to prepare our daughters for circumcision by December 2017. 

“We explained the dangers and risks associated with female genital mutilation, backing our explanation with statistics and journals.

“In the process, some angry youths of the community threatened to attack us for condemning the practice.

“As much as we tried to educate and convince the elders and the youths, our explanations fell on deaf ears, as the elders refused our request for our daughters to be exempted from the cultural practice.”