Eight suspects have been arrested by the Police in Cross River State over the abduction of Ekanem Phillip-Ephraim, a professor at the University of Calabar (UNICAL).
The Professor of Medicine was reportedly abducted at her private hospital along Mountain of Fire Ministry Avenue, Atimbo in Calabar Municipality on July 13, 2023, and whisked away to an unknown destination by gunmen.
Phillip-Ephraim has since spent 60 days in captivity as the Cross River state police continue their search for her.
Meanwhile, all eight suspects will be arraigned in court over their involvement in the abduction.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Irene Ugbo, disclosed this over the weekend while reviewing the Command’s activities in August.
She said the suspects were arrested at various locations and at different times over the past weeks.
“The landlord of the house where she was kept was arrested. A spiritualist was also arrested. A boatman who conveyed the abductors was also arrested. He was the last person who saw the professor.
“He says before he returned from where he went, the professor had already been transported again.
“They took her across the river, the state is surrounded by rivers. We are still on the case. The suspects have been charged and remanded. By the 25th, they will be appearing in court again.”
Ugbo expressed the hope that Prof Phillip-Ephraim would be rescued in no distant time as the police and navy were working in tandem to free her from the kidnapers’ den.
