Operatives of Nigeria’s domestic intelligence agency, the Department of State Services (DSS), have arrested key suspects linked to the abduction and killing of a senior medical professional, Professor Ekanem Philip-Ephraim, a renowned Nigerian professor of neurology, whose disappearance in 2023 shocked the country’s health sector.
Professor Philip-Ephraim was abducted on Thursday, July 13, 2023, from her private medical facility in Calabar, the capital city of Cross River State in southern Nigeria. She was later confirmed to have been killed by her captors after weeks of uncertainty surrounding her fate.
The incident triggered widespread outrage across Nigeria’s medical community. According to Nigeria’s professional umbrella body for doctors, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), the abduction occurred while the professor was attending to individuals who pretended to be patients at her clinic on Atimbo Road, Calabar.
The then Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association in Cross River State, Dr. Felix Archibong, had explained that the attackers waited until the consultation was ongoing before drawing weapons and forcibly taking her away at approximately 7:15 p.m.
Her disappearance led the Cross River State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association to suspend medical services in protest, demanding immediate action from security agencies and the safe rescue of the professor.
Okay News reports that officials of the Department of State Services, speaking on Monday, December 29, 2025, on condition of anonymity, disclosed that two principal suspects were arrested on Friday, December 27, 2025, at a medical facility within Cross River State while allegedly preparing to abduct another senior medical practitioner.
The suspects were identified as Patrick Essien Etim, a 23-year-old alleged gang leader, and Bassey Antiha Asuquo, aged 40. Intelligence sources revealed that the Department of State Services had been tracking the gang since July 2023, shortly after Professor Philip-Ephraim was taken by armed men posing as patients.
“Our operatives, on December 27, arrested the leader of the gang and another suspect who kidnapped and murdered a prominent professor of neurology, Ekanem Philip-Ephraim, in 2023,” one of the officials said.
“The gang leader, Patrick Essien Etim, 23, and his accomplice, Bassey Antiha Asuquo, 40, were apprehended at a medical facility in Cross River State,” the source added.
According to the official, the suspects confessed to the crime, admitting that they murdered the professor after collecting multiple ransom payments from her family.
“The duo has 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 finally have some peace and the closure they deserve,” the source stated.
Further investigations revealed that another suspect, identified as Isaac Ekpeyong, was also arrested in connection with the criminal network.
Security sources disclosed that the suspects also confessed to other criminal activities, including kidnapping additional victims and vandalising electricity infrastructure across parts of the state.
According to the Department of State Services, the arrests highlight its renewed focus on covert intelligence operations aimed at dismantling organised criminal networks and restoring public safety across Nigeria.
“This huge breakthrough underscores the commitment of the Department of State Services in reverting to covertness in its operations and restoring public safety across the country,” the official said.
