She explains that she is from Illeh in Ekpoma, Edo State, and married a man from Ujoelen, also in Ekpoma. In both communities, FGM is a deeply rooted cultural tradition. Women are typically mutilated as young girls or at the time of marriage. Those who are not mutilated are considered outcasts and not regarded as “whole women.” Her mother, who likely had a traumatic experience with FGM, hid her and her sister from their community to protect them from undergoing the practice.
When she met her husband, he did not tell her that his community strictly enforced FGM. After their customary marriage in August 2012, she traveled to his hometown to meet his family. Initially, she was welcomed warmly, but when the community learned she had not been mutilated, their attitude changed. Elders insisted she must undergo FGM, claiming it was required by tradition and necessary to avoid curses and community rejection.
She refused on religious and personal grounds. The elders and family members then forcibly detained her. On the fourth day, they barged into her home with youths, tied her up, burned her arm, and locked her in a room with the intention of forcibly mutilating her. She was held until the fifth night, when her husband—who was secretly planning her rescue and was a police sergeant—managed to free her with the help of fellow officers.
She explains that she relocated several times within Nigeria in search of safety, but the elders repeatedly tracked her down and continued to threaten her with forced mutilation and torture, despite her firm refusal to submit to the harmful practice and her husband’s efforts to protect her. She remembers another woman who died as a result of the same ritual and fears she could suffer the same fate.
She states that her husband remains unharmed only because he is regarded as a “son of the soil.” Nevertheless, the elders continue to pressure and intimidate him, demanding that he return her to the community for mutilation. She attributes her continued safety to her husband’s courage and devotion, as he has refused to yield to their threats and has stood by her side.
Due to the persistent harassment and intimidation by the Ujuelen community elders, she now struggles with severe anxiety, depression, fear, and enduring trauma. Constantly fleeing and living under ongoing threats have profoundly damaged her mental health, eroded her trust in others, and diminished her self-esteem. She feels degraded and objectified, believing that the tradition reduces women to property, leaving her with deep and lasting psychological scars