A chilling domestic crisis has unfolded in the Atan community of Ota, Ogun State, where a mother of four, Mrs. Bankole Roseline O., has reportedly fled her matrimonial home with her two daughters to save them from undergoing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
The disappearance of Mrs. Bankole has thrown the neighborhood into confusion, bringing to the fore the persistent clash between harmful traditional practices and the protection of child rights.
According to a close confidant who pleaded anonymity, Mrs. Bankole’s ordeal began shortly after her daughter’s 12th birthday. It was gathered that her mother-in-law and other members of her husband’s family insisted that the girl was ripe for the traditional rite, declaring that the circumcision must be carried out before or exactly when she clocks 14 years of age.
The family reportedly described the procedure as a mandatory ritual for female children in their lineage, a stance that Mrs. Bankole vehemently opposed.
The source revealed that Mrs. Bankole’s resistance was born out of her own traumatic experience as a survivor of FGM.
She had reportedly confided in friends about the brutal circumcision she endured at the age of 13, which left her with lifelong physical and psychological scars.
“She told me she bled for months after her own cutting and has suffered persistent infections and excruciating pain ever since,” the confidant stated.
“She often cried that the procedure robbed her of her womanhood, leaving her with no sexual sensation and a feeling of incompleteness. She swore she would never forgive herself if her daughters were subjected to the same fate or if they died from the procedure.”
Matters reportedly reached a breaking point when Mrs. Bankole’s husband, rather than protecting his immediate family, sided with his relatives. The husband allegedly insisted that he is the head of the family and that the tradition must be preserved at all costs, ignoring his wife’s pleas and the health risks involved.
“The husband became a thorn in her flesh,” the source added. “He was under immense pressure from his family and eventually declared that his word was final the cutting would go ahead.”
Fearing that her daughters might be abducted and forcibly circumcised, and having allegedly failed to secure assistance from several Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) she contacted, Mrs. Bankole decided to flee.
“She said her daughters mean the world to her and must be preserved. She ran away to prevent them from being maimed in the name of tradition,” the source said.
As of the time of filing this report, the whereabouts of Mrs. Bankole and her two daughters remain unknown, while her husband’s family is said to be actively searching for them.