Fake Nigerian doctors nabbed

Lagos - Nigerian police have arrested two fake doctors accused of causing the deaths of "many" women during childbirth or surgery at a clinic they ran for three years, a spokesperson said on Monday.

Authorities have closed the clinic in Nigeria's largest city, Lagos, after learning about it through a tip-off from local residents, police spokesperson Ngozi Braide told AFP.

"Two men who claimed to be doctors at the hospital, known as Cares hospital, in the Iba area of the city, were arrested last week. Their arrest followed a tip-off from residents about their illegal activities," she said.

"Our investigations revealed that many women have died following the illegal and criminal activities of these men."

Police declined to say how many women had died from their treatment, saying only that the investigation was continuing.

Braide said the suspects, who were not qualified doctors, had been carrying out illegal operations and surgeries on pregnant women at the clinic for the past three years.

"The hospital is not registered and there is no record to show that the suspects attended any medical school. They were simply operating an illegal hospital," she said.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, suffers widespread fraud and there have been previous cases of Nigerians posing as doctors both at home and abroad.

Authorities have also struggled to reduce the amount of fake medication being sold.