UNICEF RAISES ALARM OVER INCREASING CASES OF FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION IN NIGERIA 

The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has raised alarm over the increasing cases of Female Genital Mutilation among girls below the age of fourteen years in Nigeria. It said the case of the genital mutilation have risen from 16.9 percent in 2013 to 19.2 percent in 2018, describing it as worrisome.

This was contained in statement released by UNICEF’s Communication Officer in Nigeria, Ijeoma Onuoha-Ogwe, to mark the 2022 International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation. According to the statement, the Female Genital Mutilation remains common in Nigeria, with an estimated 19.9 million survivors, making the country third highest number of women and girls to undergone such harmful practice in the world.

While noting that there is disparities in the practice among states and regions, UNICEF however regretted that the South East region has the highest number of Female Genital Mutilation cases in the country. Onuoha-Ogwe said the group is initiating a community-led movement to eliminate the harmful practice in five states of Ebonyi, Ekiti, Imo, Osun and Oyo, where three million girls were genitally mutilated in the last five years.