THE Police and Nigeria Security an Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Ekiti State have signed a pact with two civil society organizations to arrest and prosecute violators of Child Rights Act and Female Genital Mutilation Prohibition Act.
The Centre for Women’s Health and Information (CEWHIN) and the New Generation Girls and Women Development Initiative (NIGAWD), with the signing of the agreement, signed the agreement at the end of a two-day workshop in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.
The workshop funded by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), trained security officers drawn from the 16 local government areas of the state on the adverse effects of the practice.
In her presentation, CEWHIN’s Executive Director, Mrs. Adebanke Akinrinmisi, described security agencies as key in the fight against female genital mutilation.
She said: “We are imploring them to use different networks they use to gather information in all the council areas to arrest and prosecute the cutters. The practice is high in the rural areas of Ekiti, and that was why we drew the police and NSCDC from the rural areas”, she said.
NIGAWD’s Chief Executive Director, Miss Abimbola Aladejare lamented the non-implementation of the law saying about 20 million girls are carrying the pains of genital mutilation in Nigeria alone, representing 16 per cent of the population.
“We are failing in our fight against FGM because we are not involving the security agencies, who have the power to arrest and prosecute offenders, this we are trying to correct,” Aladejare said.
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