A mother who claimed asylum, fearing that her daughters would be subjected to female genital mutilation if they were sent back to Nigeria, is due to be deported on Thursday after being detained on Wednesday afternoon, her supporters say.

The Guardian reports that Afusat Saliu and her two daughters Basirat, three, and Rashidat, one, have been taken into custody after unsuccessfully campaigning to be allowed to stay in the UK. Afusat, herself a victim of FGM, has said she fears her daughters will be mutilated too and, as a Christian, has spoken of her fear that they could be targeted by the Nigerian Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, which recently kidnapped and still hold more than 200 schoolgirls.

Anj Handa, who started a petition asking the Home Office to reconsider the case that has been signed by more than 120,000 people, said lawyers acting for Afusat had applied to bring a judicial review and expected the deportation to be put on hold while the case was considered.