After about two years of evading arrest, the Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) on Saturday arrested the leader of the gang that kidnapped and murdered a prominent professor of neurology, Ekanem Philip Ephraim, in 2023, a credible security source has confirmed.
The gang leader, Patrick Essien Etim, 23, and his accomplice, Bassey Antiha Asuquo, 40, were apprehended at a medical facility in Cross River State while planning to kidnap another medical bigwig.
According to the source, the DSS had been tracking the kidnap ring since Ephraim’s killing in July 2023, when gunmen posing as patients abducted her.
The duo have confessed to the crime, admitting that they killed the professor after collecting multiple ransom payments from her family, the source disclosed.
“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”, the source disclosed.
The suspects, alongside one Isaac Ekpeyong who was also arrested by DSS operatives, also owned up to kidnapping other victims and vandalizing electricity cables.
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.
“This huge breakthrough underscores the commitment of the DSS in reverting to covertness in its operations and restoring public safety across the country,” declared the source.
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