12 April 2009
Lagos — Amnesty International has described as "staggering" claims by the Nigerian ambassador to Ireland that a report furnished by the African country to the United Nations on the incidence of female genital mutilation (FGM) was false.
Ambassador Kemafo Nonyerem Chikwe challenged the claim by Nigeria to the UN that up to 40pc of women in Nigeria have been subjected to the practice.
"Whoever wrote that report is lying about Nigeria and is not patriotic. They are doing it for a purpose. I can assure you whoever wrote this report thought that it would be a way of attracting UN funds and that is the truth," she told RTE's 'Would You Believe' programme.
But Ms Chikwe's claims are being dismissed as "bizarre and not credible" by Amnesty International's executive director Colm O'Gorman, who is seeking a meeting with the ambassador to discuss the matter.
"Frankly, it is staggering. It is extraordinary that Nigeria can say one thing to the UN and then completely dismiss it. If we are to take what she is saying at face value, she is saying that an attempt was made by Nigeria to fraudulently obtain money from the UN.
"Nigeria has said before the UN in 2006 that up to one-third of all women and girls in Nigeria - that is about 27 million women and girls - have been subjected to FGM.
"The figures show that is in no way restricted to the traditional communities or on the fringes. In some parts of Nigeria it is a low as 2 per cent but in other areas it is as high as 65per cent.
"It is a problem that seems to be very significant and it is something Amnesty is working at on a global level," he said.
O'Gorman also questioned why Ireland was only now testing the evidence in relation to the case of Pamela Izevbekhai.
The Nigerian mother, who has been in Sligo for the past four years, claims her two young daughters Naomi (8) and Gemima (6) are in danger of FGM if they are deported to Nigeria.
Last week, it emerged that documents supporting Ms Izevbekhai's claims that her infant daughter Elizabeth had died as a result of the procedure had been forged.
"The state has an obligation to deal with every case on its individual merit. Until now, all the way through the asylum process, the appeals process and indeed all the way through the legal processes that have got as far as the European court, the State has never contested the facts of the case as presented by Pamela," he said
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