17-year-old girl, Miss Patricia
Youmgbo, has been declared
missing by family members after
she reportedly fled home to
avoid circumcision.
The News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) learnt that the girl's
decision to run away from
home followed the death of her
younger sister, Joy, after she
was forced to undergo
circumcision on January 15.
An uncle to the missing girl, Mr.
Jonah Youmgbo, told NAN that
Patricia had fled the family home
in Amassoma, Southern Ijaw
Local Government Area of
Bayelsa since Feb. 14.
Youmgbo said that the two
sisters, who lived in Lagos, had
came home in December 2012
to spend the Christmas with
their grandmother in
Amassoma.
He said that the girls’
grandmother and some
extended family members had
ordered the girls to be
circumcised before returning to
Lagos.
NAN learnt that it was the
decision of the family that led to
the forced circumcision of Joy, a
development that triggered the
excessive bleeding that
eventually led to her death.
Youmgbo, who lamented the
death of the teenager, said that
Joy, who was full of life before
the forced circumcision, died
from injuries as a result of the
crude traditional practice of
female genital mutilation.
He explained that the victim,
suffered severe excruciating
pains for days after the
mutilation of her genital before
her death.
Youmgbo said that medical
reports obtained after the death
of Joy, showed that the 15-year-
old died of "Post Circumcision
haemorrhage''.
NAN learnt that it was the fear
of falling victim of the same
circumcision that made the
elder sister, Patricia to flee the
community since Feb. 14.
Youmgbo, who is a brother to
the girls’ father, told NAN that a
case of missing person had
since been reported at the
Amassoma Divisional Police
headquarters.
He used the opportunity to call
on Nigerians and Ijaw people in
particular to desist from the
“obnoxious” tradition of female
genital mutilation.
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