Molly Kilete, Abuja
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), has airlifted a set of conjoined twins along with their parents and a medical team from Yenagoa to Yola via Port Harcourt by helicopter and fixed-wing transport aircraft.
The twins, who are joined at the abdomen, are expected to undergo surgery at the Federal Medical Centre in Yola.
The NAF said it undertook the airlift as part of its humanitarian gesture to aid the family of the twins who have been appealing to the public for help and had their prayers answers when the NAF responded on January 2.
The Bayelsa State health sector was thrown into dilemma following the birth of the Siamese twins to the family of one Raphael Ayebaenaemi by his 24-year-old wife, Ebiyefa.
The conjoined twins were said to have been born through a Caesarean Section at the Nembe General Hospital, in Nembe Local Government Area, of Bayelsa State on December 12 at about 11 am.
The father of the twins in an interview with our correspondent said the babies were glued at their abdomen, which required a surgical procedure to separate them.
Raphael also said that the General Hospital where the Caesarean operation was carried out referred them to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Yenagoa, for further investigations and treatment where the mother of the twins was admitted after the operation.
The combined weight of the babies who are also the first children of the family, was said to be 5.8kg at birth.
Raphael said following the referral, the twins were taken to FMC for further medical procedures.
The father of the twins while calling for help from the public said: “I have no money, not even a dime. I am happy that my wife gave birth to twins but when I discovered that the twins were conjoined and they were born through a Caesarean operation, my heart skipped.”
While on admission at the FMC, its management said all its experts, consultants and doctors, were carrying out further verifications on the conjoined twins to ascertain the right and proper surgical process involved in their separation.