Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) have arrested the leader of the gang responsible for the 2023 kidnapping and murder of renowned neurology professor, Ekanem Philip Ephraim.
The gang leader, 23-year-old Patrick Essien Etim, along with his accomplice, 40-year-old Bassey Antiha Asuquo, were apprehended at a medical facility in Cross River State.
A source revealed that the DSS had been tracking the kidnap syndicate since Professor Ephraim’s death in July 2023. The perpetrators, who posed as patients, abducted and later killed her.
Both suspects have confessed, admitting they murdered the professor after receiving multiple ransom payments from her family.
“It has been two years of torment for her loved ones, not knowing what happened to the Professor.
“I believe that, with this arrest, her family can finally find some peace and the closure they deserve,” said a DSS source who preferred to remain anonymous.
The suspects also admitted to kidnapping other individuals and vandalising electricity cables, including another suspect, Isaac Ekpeyong, who was also arrested by DSS operatives, sources confirmed.
Professor Ephraim was abducted on 13 July 2023 by gunmen posing as patients at her private clinic on Atimbo Road, Calabar.
Her kidnapping prompted statewide protests led by the Cross River State chapter of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), which launched an indefinite strike that paralysed the health sector for over a week in a bid to pressure the government into securing her release.