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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has ordered an investigation into the altercation between operatives of the commission and the staff of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, UUTH, which allegedly led to the brutalisation of Professor Eyo Ekpe, a foremost cardiologist in Nigeria.
Doctors and other health workers have embarked on an indefinite strike following the incident, which occurred on Tuesday, May 12, although the Chief Medical Director of UUTH, Prof. Ememabasi Bassey, had appealed to the union leaders to return to work for the sake of critically ill patients.
EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, in a statement on Friday, said the commission was outraged by the allegations of brutalisation of staff of the hospital, even though it was yet to see any physical evidence of such brutality in terms of bodily harm or injury to anyone.
Oyewale assured that while awaiting the outcome of the inquiry, any staff member of the commission found to have deviated from the agency’s Standard Operating Procedure would be sanctioned.
Suing for calm, he commended stakeholders who intervened in the matter for its peaceful resolution, urging that fifth columnists should not be allowed to exploit the situation and undermine the fight against corruption in Nigeria.
Giving insight into why operatives of the Uyo Zonal Office visited UUTH, Oyewale said, “The presence of the commission’s operatives in the facility on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, was purely administrative, to facilitate the authentication of a document, rather than a tactical operation to effect an arrest. Contrary to the information making the rounds, no arrests were made and the staff of the hospital who followed our operatives to the zonal command were not detained.
“However, the commission, as a responsible organisation, has ordered an investigation into the incident. While awaiting the outcome of this inquiry, any staff member of the commission found to have deviated from the Standard Operating Procedure of the agency will not be spared.”
Activities at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, UUTH, Akwa Ibom State, were brought to a halt on Tuesday, May 12, following the attempted arrest and eventual arrest of Prof. Effiong Ekpe and three other staff members of the hospital by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Uyo Zonal Office.
It was gathered that EFCC officials, while attempting to arrest Prof. Ekpe, who is the Deputy Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, CMAC, on a court warrant, met resistance from other staff members of the hospital, while the hospital security also locked the gate, barring their exit from the facility.
It was further gathered that the operatives called for backup as the atmosphere became tense before the police arrived.
Following the incident, Dr. Aniekan Peters, the State Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, directed doctors across the state to immediately shut down services, while JOHESU leaders also declared a total hospital shutdown in protest against what they described as an inhumane and barbaric act.
Confirming the incident, the Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Dr. Gabriel Eyo, said the action of the EFCC was an onslaught on the hospital and its workers.
Eyo said it was wrong for a professor of cardiothoracic surgery and the only one in the state, to be treated like a criminal, noting that the man was injured in the process. As such, the strike was called to protest the alleged injustice.
“Prof. Ekpe is the professor of cardiothoracic surgery, the only one we have in Akwa Ibom State. Anyway, we don’t know what he has done, but we don’t really care at this point. Whatever he did, there is due process for this kind of thing. Even criminals are not treated this way. The only thing that should have been done would have been to send an invitation, which was not done.
“The NMA just had a meeting of its members, so we’ve begun the indefinite strike. The resolutions will be made public very soon.”
Meanwhile, the police have distanced themselves from involvement in the arrest of the professor, saying their operatives were only drafted to the scene to calm the situation and verify the authenticity of the officers who came for the arrest.
The Commissioner of Police, CP Baba Mohammed Azare, said he ordered some policemen to join the EFCC officials to pick up a staff member of the hospital on the instruction of the judge in an ongoing court case.
Azare said that before the policemen entered the hospital premises for the arrest, he had informed the Chief Medical Director, Prof. Emem Bassey, to instruct his staff to grant the policemen access into the premises.
