The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested suspects linked to the 2023 abduction and murder of Professor Ekanem Philip Ephraim, a prominent neurologist in Cross River State.
DSS operatives on Saturday, swooped in on a medical facility in Calabar, apprehending the gang leader, 23-year-old Patrick Essien Etim, along with Bassey Antiha Asuquo (40) and Isaac Ekpeyong. The suspects were plotting another abduction when nabbed.
Professor Ephraim, a respected neurology expert at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, was kidnapped on July 13, 2023, from her private clinic on Atimbo Road by gunmen posing as patients. Despite family payments of ransoms totaling several million naira, the 57-year-old doctor was killed by her captors, sparking outrage across Nigeria’s medical community.
The brazen attack prompted the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to launch protests and a statewide healthcare strike, halting services for days as doctors demanded better security.
According to the DSS, Interrogations revealed full confessions to Ephraim’s murder, as well as involvement in clinic vandalism and other crimes. Authorities recovered items linked to the 2023 case, closing a two-year investigation that had yielded few leads.
Cross River State Police Commissioner, Gyogon Grim, praised the DSS for the breakthrough, noting intelligence-sharing was key. The arrests signal intensified federal efforts against kidnapping syndicates operating in the Niger Delta region.
