The police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps have vowed to ensure that perpetrators of female genital mutilation in Oyo, Osun and Ekiti States are arrested and prosecuted in order to put an end to the harmful cultural practice.
The Commandant of the NSCDC in Oyo State, Mr. John Adewoye; his Osun State counterpart, Mr. Akinwande Aboluwoye and the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Criminal Investigation Department in Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodeji Lawal, made this vow in Osogbo on Wednesday.
The three senior law enforcement officers spoke after a two-day meeting on enforcement of the laws against female general mutilation in the South West organised by the Centre for Women’s Health and Information in collaboration with the Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre.
The officers said the sensitisation programme which had the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund/United Nations Population Fund was an eye opener for them with a promise to spread their tentacles to even the remote areas where the harmful practice was common.
The officers said since the practice had been legislated against in their various states and that there was a law enacted by the Federal Government against the practice, they were ready to implement the laws to the full.
