The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested key members of the gang responsible for the 2023 abduction and killing of Professor Ekanem Philip Ephraim.
The suspects, Patrick Essien Etim, 23, and Bassey Antiha Asuquo, 40, were apprehended at a medical facility in Cross River State while planning to kiidnap another prominent medical professional. Another accomplice, Isaac Ekpeyong, was also arrested.
Security sources revealed that the DSS had been tracking the gang since Professor Ephraim’s kidnapping on July 13, 2023, when gunmen posing as patients abducted her from her private clinic on Atimbo Road, Calabar.
The suspects confessed to killing her after collecting multiple ransom payments from her family.
The arrest brings relief to the professor’s loved ones after two years of uncertainty. Her abd¥ction had sparked protests by the Cross River State chapter of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), which staged an indefinite strike, disrupting healthcare services for over a week to pressure the government for her rescue.
The DSS described the breakthrough as a demonstration of its commitment to covert operations and public safety nationwide.