Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) have arrested two suspects linked to the abduction and killing of a Cross River State-based neurology professor, Dr Ekanem Philip-Ephraim, who was kidnapped in July 2023.
Dr Philip-Ephraim was seized on July 13, 2023, from her private office in Calabar. At the time, the state chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) said the assailants had posed as patients before producing weapons and abducting the professor at about 7:15 p.m., a development that prompted the NMA to suspend services in protest and demand urgent action.
Officials of the DSS, who spoke on condition of anonymity on Monday, identified the arrested suspects as 23-year-old gang leader, Patrick Essien Etim, and 40-year-old Bassey Antiha Asuquo. They said both were detained on December 27 at a medical facility in the state while allegedly preparing to abduct another senior health practitioner.
The security sources added that the agency had kept the gang under surveillance since the 2023 abduction and moved in when intelligence indicated an imminent fresh kidnap attempt.
“Our operatives, on December 27, arrested the leader of the gang and another suspect who kidnapped and murdered a prominent professor of neurology, Ekanem Philip-Ephraim, in 2023.
The DSS further disclosed that recovered items and case materials are being processed as investigators build files for prosecution. Authorities warned that investigations are ongoing and urged the public to assist with any information that could aid the prosecution of other accomplices.
The arrests follow heightened pressure from medical bodies and civil society groups for stronger protection of health workers after a spate of attacks on clinicians in parts of the country. Cross River State authorities have yet to issue a public statement on the latest development.