Nollywood actress, Victoria Inyama, has apologised to the public after facing criticism for comments she made about female circumcision.
PrimeTimes Nigeria reports that the issue started after she appeared on an Instagram live discussion with media personality Daddy Freeze, where she spoke about her personal experience and said that the practice had a positive effect on her. Her comments sparked reactions online, with many people warning about the dangers linked to the practice and calling for it to be discouraged.
In a follow-up video shared on Daddy Freeze’s Instagram page, the actress admitted that she did not fully understand the wider impact of female genital mutilation when she made the earlier statement. She explained that she had since learned more after speaking with a midwife and people close to her, which changed her view.
She said her earlier opinion was based only on her personal experience, adding that she was unaware of how severe the procedure could be for many girls and women. According to her, she later discovered that in some cases, the process involves serious complications that can lead to long periods of pain and recovery.
The actress also shared that hearing real-life experiences from others made her realise that what she went through was different from what many victims face. She acknowledged that her comments may have misled people and expressed regret over the situation, adding that she is now better informed and will approach such discussions more carefully in the future.
She said, “A few weeks ago, on a talk show with Daddy Freeze, we were talking about issues like we always do, and I was just mentioning the root cause of certain issues and what I think or why I think it was done at that time. That’s where the FGM thing came up. Our ancestors thought that female circumcision would control the urges of women; unfortunately, I didn’t know the gravity of what it is in most places. FGM is bad. A midwife called me to explain this, and now I understand.
“It is nothing like what I went through; I never knew they stitched and thought it was just the basics. Even my prophetess in church, who is like my mother, told me she was in the hospital for a week over her episode, and she was only 15. For that to have happened to her and to everybody out there, I am sorry if my argument and comment came across as uninformed. Yes, I was totally uninformed about this FGM thing; now I am informed. So, now I am going to do better”.