Actress Victoria Inyama has apologised to the public after backlash over comments she made supporting female circumcision during an Instagram live session.

Inyama, speaking on Daddy Freeze’s Instagram live last week, said she loved female circumcision and called it the best thing that happened to her.

She recalled being circumcised while living with her grandmother in the village and said it gave her power, a statement which drew criticism online.

Addressing the backlash in a video on Daddy Freeze’s Instagram page, Inyama said she was uninformed about the issue and did not realise its gravity until she received calls from her close circle.

She said a midwife contacted her to explain female genital mutilation (FGM), and she now understands her experience differs from what many women endure today.

Inyama said she previously thought it was basic and did not know victims were stitched.

She said her prophetess, whom she described as a mother figure, told her she spent a week in the hospital at age 15 because of the procedure.

Inyama admitted she was totally uninformed about FGM, is now learning more, and will do better.

She said she raised the topic while discussing the root causes of certain issues and what her ancestors believed about controlling women’s urges.

She said FGM is bad and apologised if her comments came across as uninformed.

“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”, she said. (The Nation)