By Abasi Ita
Operatives of the Department of State Services have arrested the suspected leader of the gang responsible for the abduction and killing of a renowned professor of neurology, Ekanem Philip Ephraim, who was kidnapped in Calabar in 2023.
Security sources confirmed that the gang leader, Patrick Essien Etim, 23, and his accomplice, Bassey Antiha Asuquo, 40, were apprehended on Saturday, December 27, 2025, at a medical facility in Cross River State. The suspects were reportedly planning to kidnap another senior medical practitioner at the time of their arrest.
Professor Ephraim, a consultant neurologist at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, was abducted on July 13, 2023, from her private clinic along Atimbo Road in Calabar. The abductors allegedly posed as patients before drawing weapons and forcefully taking her away while she was attending to them. Her killing was later confirmed after months of uncertainty surrounding her fate.
A credible security source disclosed that the DSS had been tracking the kidnapping ring since the professor’s abduction in July 2023. According to the source, the arrested suspects confessed to the crime, admitting that they killed Professor Ephraim after collecting multiple ransom payments from her family.
The source described the arrest as a major breakthrough, noting that the professor’s family had endured nearly two years of anguish without knowing what happened to their loved one. The arrest, the source added, would finally provide a measure of closure.
In addition to the two suspects, another individual identified as Isaac Ekpeyong was also arrested by DSS operatives. The suspects reportedly confessed to involvement in other kidnapping cases, as well as the vandalisation of electricity cables within the state.
Professor Ephraim’s abduction in 2023 sparked widespread protests by the Cross River State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association, which withdrew medical services across the state in demand for her rescue, drawing national attention to the case.
Security officials said the arrests underscore the DSS’s sustained efforts to dismantle criminal networks and enhance public safety across the country. The suspects are expected to be charged to court as investigations continue.