The Director, Centre for Gender Youth and Child Development, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike (MOUAU), Prof. Ifeoma Mabel Onwuka has made case for collaborative effort to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Nigeria.
Prof. Onwuka who made the call while interacting with newsmen in commemoration of International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM 2024, decried the practice, maintaining that it has no health benefits for girls and women.
Prof. Onwuka said the practice causes severe bleeding, urinating problems, cysts, infections, as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths.
The Prof. of Soil Science, also revealed that over 200 million women and girls within the age of 15 to 49 years are living with the consequences of FGM worldwide, while Nigeria with a total of 19.9 million females is listed as having the world’s third highest number of females who have undergone FGM.