DSS Arrests ‘killers’ who posed as patients to abduct medical doctor

Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) have arrested the suspected leader of the gang who kidnapped and murdered a prominent professor of neurology, Ekanem Philip Ephraim, in 2023

The gang leader, Patrick Essien Etim, 23, and his accomplice, Bassey Antiha Asuquo, 40, were apprehended at a medical facility in Cross River State.

According to a source, the DSS had been tracking the kidnap ring since Ephraim’s killing in July 2023.

The gunmen who posed as patients had abducted and subsequently killed her.

The duo had reportedly confessed to the crime, admitting that they killed the professor after collecting 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 and loved ones will be able to finally have some peace and the much needed closure that they deserve,” said a DSS source who did not want to be quoted.

The suspects also owned up to kidnapping other victims and vandalizing electricity cables, with one Isaac Ekpeyong who was also arrested by the operatives, according to the sources.

Recall that Professor Ekanem was abducted on 13th July, 2023 by unknown gunmen who posed as patients at her private clinic at Atimbo Road, Calabar.

Her kidnap sparked statewide protests by the state chapter of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA).

The medical association had embarked on an indefinite strike, which crippled the health sector for over a week, in a bid to prevail on government to rescue the Professor.

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