Eyo Ekpe, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), has narrated how operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) allegedly stormed his office, dragged him out and arrested him.
Speaking at a press briefing in Uyo on Wednesday, Ekpe, who is also the deputy chairman of the hospital’s medical advisory committee, said the incident occurred while he was processing a response to an EFCC inquiry over a medical report linked to a suspect facing trial.
He said the anti-graft agency had requested verification of the report, prompting him to review the document alongside the head of the hospital’s internal medicine department.
“The head of that internal medicine department looked at the report and also discovered that the name of the doctor that signed the report is not a member of staff of that department,” Ekpe said.
The professor of cardiothoracic surgery added that following the findings, he prepared a response to the EFCC on Monday, May 11, 2026.
He said an EFCC operative visited his office the next morning to collect the document.
“I told him that the response was ready in draft. I showed him the draft,” he said.
The doctor said he informed the operative that the document still needed approval from the chief medical director (CMD) of the hospital before it could be officially signed and released.
“He pretended to have accepted that,” Ekpe said, adding that the officer later returned with another armed operative and informed him that he was under arrest.
“I asked him why. I was not the one that issued the medical report. My name is not on the medical report. The report was not issued from my unit,” he said.
Ekpe alleged that the operatives refused to allow him to wait for a staff member he had sent on an errand before taking him away.
“They started pushing me. They dragged me out of the office,” he said.
The surgeon said he cried out while being dragged, attracting hospital workers to the scene.
He said the operatives prevented him from speaking or making calls, making it impossible for him to explain the situation to colleagues who gathered around.
He said members of staff of the hospital initially blocked the operatives from taking him away, after which reinforcement was allegedly called in.
“I saw many masked and armed men came violently, broke the protector, threatening the people that were around,” he said.
Ekpe said some staff members were beaten before he and four others were forced into an EFCC van, adding that tear gas and live ammunition were fired during the chaos that followed within the hospital premises.
Meanwhile, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Prof. Ememabasi Bassey, has urged medical doctors in the hospital to resume work in order to save patients’ lives and prevent disruptions to healthcare delivery.
Bassey, who spoke alongside other stakeholders during the press conference, urged the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to suspend its ongoing strike at the hospital.
“Innocent patients may lose their lives if medical services remain paralysed. Let us consider the plight of innocent patients who depend on the hospital for survival,” he said.
The CMD stated that UUTH was the only publicly accessible federal tertiary health institution in Akwa Ibom State, attending to between 600 and 800 patients daily.
Bassey alleged that the EFCC did not officially communicate with the teaching hospital management or present an arrest warrant for Prof. Effiong Ekpe.
“The EFCC did not formally notify the hospital management or present an arrest warrant before attempting to drag a professor out of his office”.
Reacting to the development, the EFCC denied invading the premises of the teaching hospital.
Its head of media and publicity, Mr Dele Oyewale, said in a statement that EFCC operatives were at the teaching hospital to verify a medical report linked to an ongoing fraud investigation, and that they were allegedly attacked during the course of their duty.
