A free cleft surgery which the Rotary International club plans to carry out is expected to start in the Kwara State capital Ilorin coming Monday, January 11.

The programme is targeted at 100 children and involves the Kwara State Government, the Mike Omotosho Foundation and the Alliance for Smiles based in the United States of America.

A statement issued in Ilorin by the Rotary International District Governor in Nigeria, Dr Mike Omotosho said the cleft lip and palate reformatory surgeries would be performed by a team of surgeons from the United States of America, Australia and Nigeria.

According to the statement, cleft lip and cleft palate are birth defects that occur when a baby's lip or mouth does not form properly during pregnancy. It called for the setting up of birth defects registries across the country, which the organization believed would help in determining Nigeria's birth defects prevalence.

The statement said a team of 17 volunteers comprising doctors, nurses and other paramedics will be arriving Nigeria from USA, Canada and Australia this Friday, January 8, for the exercise which will be carried out at the General Hospital, Ilorin.