Benin issued a strong warning to practitioners of female...

Benin issued a strong warning to practitioners of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the country to stop the practice immediately.
In a statement issued in Cotonou, the ministry of Family, Welfare and Solidarity, made the appeal for an "immediate and unconditional" cessation of ceremonies during which FGM are carried out.
The government also drew the attention of the public, particularly of traditional headmen, to the fact that FGM was a "serious infringement of women or girls' moral and physical integrity."
These practices exposed the victims to serious consequences such as haemorrhage, sexually transmitted diseases, sterility or even death, the statement added.
FGM practitioners and their accomplices faced imprisonment and even the death sentence if convicted, it said.