The Oyo state government has appealed to traditional circumcisers in the state to disengage the profession or risk sanction.
The state’s commissioner for health, Dr. Bashir Bello, made the appeal on Friday, at a stakeholders’ forum on the dissemination of research findings on female genital mutilation in the state.
According to Dr. Bello, a larger percentage of the victims of female genital mutilation battle with the side effects of circumcision for several years; a development that has resulted in the loss of lives of many over the years.
He, however, hinted that plans are already underway to launch a grassroots campaign against female genital mutilation in Oyo state.
Also speaking, the executive secretary, Oyo State Primary Healthcare Board, Dr. Muideen Olatunji, enjoined traditional circumcisers to cooperate with the government and steer clear of the deviant profession.
He charged the traditional circumcisers not to be demoralized, rather, they should make ends meet from other one thousand and one professions available.
While presenting the research findings on female genital mutilation in Oyo state, the lead researcher and program officer of the FGM project, Ms. Oluwatomi Oluluga, said there is a need for the government to enforce the female circumcision prohibition law, 2016.
