Igwe Lawrence Agubuzu, the Chairman, Enugu State Traditional Rulers’ Council, says the council has succeeded in stamping out female genital mutilation in the state.
Agubuzu made the disclosure while speaking with News Agency of Nigeria in Enugu on Tuesday on the 2018 International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation.
He said that traditional rulers in the state had campaigned vigorously against the practice and had succeeded in stopping it.
He said: ‘‘The traditional rulers’ council made it a subject to be tackled and today we the traditional rulers had fought it and wiped it out completely in the state.’’
He said that there was a need for people to stand up against the evil and inhuman treatment against womanhood in general.
NAN reports that Female Genital Mutilation is the total or partial removal of the genital of female folk by cutting or massaging with attritional substance especially on infant girl-child.
Agubuzu was a onetime Ambassador and Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Nigeria in Washington and High Commissioner to the Republic of Zambia.
The royal father appealed to nobles and enlightened personalities in Africa to rise up and stop female genital cutting.
Agubuzu, who was also an Interim Commissioner of Rural Economy and Agriculture in the African Union, said that Africans must move forward with time.
He said: ‘‘We cannot continue to live in the past because of the fact that we are Africans.
‘‘The practice is evil and inhuman; while every noble person or personality in Africa must rise against it; just as we, traditional rulers, have risen against it holistically in Enugu State.’’
NAN reports that the UN set aside every Februay 6 to mark International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation aimed at strengthening the momentum towards ending the practice worldwide.
The practice is globally recognised as a violation of the human rights of girls and women that perpetuates deep rooted inequality between the sexes.
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