Middle-aged woman and mother of three, Mrs. Williams Abibat Yetunde, and her spouse, Mr Williams Olasunkanmi have urged government and Civil Societies Organisations (CSOs) to save her family from the community over non-compliance with forceful circumcision of her daughter, Williams Oluwapemisire Precious.
Williams, who lives in Abeokuta, the Ogun State Capital, refused to
allow the community to carry out the age-long tradition of Female
Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM) on her daughter, Precious.
Consequently, the community, despite international outcries and
campaigns against the cultural practice, threatened to attack the
family if they insist on their stance.
It was learnt that Mrs. Williams Abibat Yetunde, a businesswoman, has
suffered serial abuse and dehumanisation from the head of the family. William Isaac and some community leaders.
She recounted that the disagreement with family elders started when
her daughter, who was born in 21 October, 2010, clocked the age of
8 and was reminded of the cultural practice by her relatives during
a family function, which stipulates that a female child must be
circumcised between the ages of six months to 10 years.
She, however, disclosed that she managed to convince the family elders
to give her some time to perform the rite..
She added that since then, she has been coming up with excuses to the
family elders and community leaders to shield her daughter from being
circumcised.
“In September this year, my husband and I were summoned to a meeting
with family elders, where they instructed us to prepare our daughter
for circumcision by December 2018.
“We explained the dangers and risks associated with female genital
mutilation, backing our explanation with statistics and journals.
“In the process, some angry youths of the community threatened to
attack us for condemning the practice.
“As much as we tried to educate and convince the elders and the
youths, our explanations fell on deaf ears, as the elders refused our
request for our daughters to be exempted from the cultural practice
She had then called on Civil Organisations and well meaning
individuals to save her and her daughter from daily harassment from
her husband family and the community.
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