IRISE takes SRHR, STOP Guidelines campaigns to Ijagemo, seeks community trust for women’s health in Igando-Ikotun

The Initiative to Resist Institutional Slavery and Exploitation (IRISE) has extended its advocacy on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and the Safe Termination of Pregnancy (STOP) Guidelines to the Ijagemo Community in Igando-Ikotun Local Council Development Area of Lagos State, in a bid to build trust and secure grassroots support for women’s health interventions.

The outreach, held on Saturday, August 8, 2026 at G.O.C Events Place, Ijagemo, was themed: “Building Trust and Securing Community Buy-In for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Advocacy in Igando-Ikotun LCDA.”

It was structured as a Preparatory Consultation Meeting with Community and Religious Leaders to introduce the objectives of the SRHR project and the Lagos State STOP Guidelines, address cultural concerns, and agree on pathways for continued engagement.

Speaking during the meeting, the Executive Director of IRISE, Omodele Ibitoye Ejeh, said the organization chose Ijagemo after preliminary engagements with stakeholders in four communities revealed a significant gap in awareness around SRHR issues. “We discovered that Ijagemo is a community that is lacking in awareness on these issues. That is why we are having this stakeholders meeting today, to educate the leaders and inform them about our intention to enter into the community and do more awareness creation,” she said.

Ejeh explained that the central goal of the campaign is to educate women and girls on their reproductive health rights and to reduce the rate of unsafe abortion through information, education, and access to safe healthcare services. “We are here to talk to stakeholders about how we intend to educate women and girls in the community around Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, and to see how we can minimize unsafe abortion through the education and awareness we are bringing to their community,” she stated.

She emphasized that IRISE’s approach is not to impose ideas, but to work with community and religious leaders as partners and change agents who can influence positive health-seeking behavior.

A major focus of the meeting was the Lagos State Safe Termination of Pregnancy, STOP, Guidelines, which were launched by the state government in 2022 but later suspended following public controversy.

According to Ejeh, the guideline is a technical document designed solely for healthcare providers to guide them in offering safe and legal pregnancy termination services to women and girls in line with Nigerian law. “It is simply the steps to be taken in the safe termination of pregnancy. This guideline is not a public document. It is a document to guide healthcare providers to provide safe services for pregnancy termination for women and girls inside Lagos State, based on legal provisions,” she explained.

She said the document was pulled back after misinterpretations and attacks suggesting that the Lagos State Government was promoting abortion. “That is not actually true. The truth is that this document was launched to provide healthcare providers with how to provide safe services for the protection of women and girls. What we Civil Society Organizations are doing is to create awareness on what this document is, the legal implications, and how it does not go against the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” she added.

Ejeh stressed that unsafe abortion remains a major public health challenge, and that proper education and provider guidance can save lives.

Ejeh, in her closing remarks, urged women to assert their right to bodily autonomy and to seek professional healthcare rather than resort to dangerous alternatives.
“Women have a right to their bodily autonomy, and women should exercise that right and be able to speak up when the need arises. Women should seek safe healthcare services,” she said.

The meeting drew wide participation from traditional, religious, and community leaders, women groups, and residents of Ijagemo.

Senior Prophetess Abasingin of St. John, Oluwatedo, Baptist Insight, who coordinated the mobilization of women, said she welcomed the initiative because of the urgent need for enlightenment in the area. “When Omodele hinted about her intention to come here, I was highly impressed because my environment needs it more than anything. The Bible says, ‘my people perish for lack of knowledge,’ and knowledge is power,” she said.

Prophetess Abasingin also raised concern over the prevalence of domestic violence in Ijagemo, noting that many women suffer in silence. “There is a preponderance of domestic violence in Ijagemo Community and many of the women are not speaking out. IRISE has the contact to take up cases of domestic violence so that the victim can get help,” she said.

She assured that the knowledge gained from the meeting would have a lasting impact and promised to mobilize more women for future engagements.

Mrs. Funsho Adebiyi, a resident, described the session as eye-opening. “I came here to learn about the community I live in. I have learnt a lot about female sexual health, how we can take care of our bodies, and issues of family planning,” she said.

She lamented that cases of sexual violence, domestic abuse, and unsafe reproductive practices are common but rarely discussed. “We have lots of domestic violence that married women don’t talk about. We have lots of rape cases that people shy away from. People also shy away from discussion around abortion. But we have life-threatening pregnancies where abortion is the safe thing at that point to save the life of the mother,” she noted.

Imam Kosebinu Oyedele Sharafdeen, an Islamic scholar, commended IRISE for the engagement and said religious leaders must play a greater role in sex education. “This is the first time I am participating in something like this. We Islamic scholars also have work to do concerning SRHR. We need to start teaching parents so they can teach their children how to say no, take care of themselves, and avoid domestic violence,” he said.

The Imam also called for inclusion of boys in the conversation. “Most times when we talk about gender violence, the girls and women are the victims. But we must also talk to the boys. They need to know their rights and know there is a time they shouldn’t engage sexually with girls,” he said.

At the end of deliberations, participants reached several joint resolutions. These include agreement on defined roles and responsibilities for community leaders, timelines for follow-up sensitization, and modalities for continued engagement between IRISE and stakeholders in Ijagemo.

The meeting also agreed on the need for ongoing advocacy to correct misconceptions about SRHR and the STOP Guidelines, and to create safe spaces for women and girls to access information and report cases of abuse.

Health experts have repeatedly linked lack of access to accurate SRHR information to high rates of maternal mortality, unsafe abortions, teenage pregnancy, and gender-based violence in many Nigerian communities.

By taking the campaign directly to community gatekeepers in Ijagemo, IRISE hopes to bridge the information gap, reduce stigma, and ensure that health policies like the STOP Guidelines are understood within their proper legal and medical context.

The organization stated that it will continue similar consultations in other communities across Lagos as part of its broader mandate to resist institutional exploitation and protect the rights and dignity of women and girls.