Graphic images of a young girl being subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) were posted on Facebook by a Nigerian man advertising an eight-day “bonanza” of free cutting in his home, reported CNN.
Alhaji Adebayo, a building contractor from Ilorin, Kwara State in central Nigeria, has organized mass cuttings in the past and reportedly runs a charity for poor families that cannot afford to pay the normal fee for the brutal procedure, as do many wealthy people in the area.
FGM is illegal in Nigeria, but it is still a widespread practice. No one has been convicted for performing FGM in Nigeria to date.
The message, which was accompanied by pictures of a crowd gathered around the girl who was being being held down by men while she was mutilated, read: “Bonanza! Bonanza! Bonanza!!! Free of Charge 8 days, Yearly opportunity has come again.” Directions were provided to the house.
The day after he posted the now-deleted advertisement, Adebayo said he had been visited by anti-FGM activists. “They made me realize the disadvantages and implication in doing mutilation for (the) female child,” he stated. “I urge every parent to put an end to the female circumcision…because of (the) problems that might come out from there later in the future,” he added.
He also claimed he was unaware that the practice was illegal.
Female genital mutilation includes all procedures involving the partial or complete removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
Short-term effects include hemorrhaging, pain, shock and death. Long-term effects include problems with sexual relations, complications giving birth, cysts, chronic pelvic infections and sterility.
The trauma of FGM lasts a lifetime and can cause depression and anxiety, among other psychological problems.
See Clarion Project’s Infographic on FGM
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