Lagos lawmaker, Rep. Ganiyu Johnson, sponsors legislation prohibiting female genital mutilation, the bill prescribing a 4-year jail term for offenders scales second reading at the House of Representatives
A Bill for an Act to amend the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015 and increase the penalty for the offence of female genital mutilation passed second reading at the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Ganiyu Johnson (APC, Lagos), prescribes a 4-year imprisonment or a fine not exceeding N200,000.00 for any person who practices female genital mutilation or engages another to carry out such circumcision.
Leading the debate on the general principles of the bill, the lawmaker noted that Section 6(2) of the Act needed to be amended to read thus “6 (2) Any person who performs female circumcision or genital mutilation or engages another to carry out such circumcision or mutilation commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a term of imprisonment not exceeding five years or to a fine not exceeding one million nairas or to both.”
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Ojochenemi Onje-James
Ojochenemi Onje-James is a research writer and journalist with years of proven footprints in areas of crime and politics. She has a M.Sc in International Relations and Strategic Studies as well as a B.Sc in Mass Communication.
