Outrage has followed the alleged assault and arrest of four staff members of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Akwa Ibom State, including the Deputy Chairman, Medical Advisory, Effiong Ekpe, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery, during an investigation involving the verification of a medical report submitted by a fraud suspect.
The incident followed a visit to the hospital by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission yesterday, reports The PUNCH.
It was earlier reported that the EFCC operatives arrived at the hospital premises in the afternoon and attempted to arrest a staff member, leading to resistance from workers and other hospital personnel.
Eyewitnesses alleged that the operatives later called for reinforcement and that additional officers fired shots into the air to disperse workers who gathered at the scene.
The operatives eventually took away Ekpe, and three other staff members.
Some persons were reportedly injured during the incident, while phones were said to have been damaged as workers tried to record the scene.
In a statement obtained by our correspondent on X yesterday, the EFCC admitted that its operatives visited the hospital to authenticate a medical report submitted by a suspect standing trial before Justice M.A. Onyetunu of the Federal High Court in Uyo over alleged fraud involving several microfinance banks, including the University of Uyo Microfinance Bank.
“The suspect had presented a medical report which required authentication by the UUTH management. The Commission wrote two different letters, dated March 11, 2026, and April 20, 2026, to the hospital management to this effect without receiving any response,” the agency stated.
The anti-graft agency noted that its investigating officer later visited the hospital to follow up on the request but still received no response.
“As a last resort, operatives of the commission visited the chief medical director of the hospital on Tuesday to make further enquiries, only to be locked in with a false alarm and subjected to an unprovoked attack by misguided staff of the facility who pelted them with stones and other dangerous objects,” the statement added.
The EFCC also alleged that the hospital management shut the gates against its operatives despite intervention from the police.
“Police authorities in Akwa Ibom State advised the CMD to open the hospital gates to enable the operatives to exit the premises peacefully, but the entreaties were turned down,” it said.
The agency insisted that its operatives acted professionally and did not disrupt hospital activities. It also warned that obstructing lawful investigations could attract legal consequences.
Meanwhile, medical doctors and health workers at the hospital have declared an indefinite strike over the incident.
The chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association in Akwa Ibom State, Dr Aniekan Peters, reportedly directed doctors across the state to suspend services, while the Joint Health Sector Unions also announced a total shutdown of hospital activities in protest.
Speaking on the development, the Public Relations Officer of the NMA in the state, Dr Gabriel Eyo, described the incident as an attack on the hospital and its workers.
“In the early hours of this morning, masked men wearing EFCC jackets stormed into the hospital premises, walked into the office of the Deputy Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee, Prof. Effiong Ekpe, and beat him to a pulp,” Eyo alleged.
“They dragged him like a common criminal. When members of staff, students and other health workers tried to resist them, they shot sporadically into the air and dispersed the crowd with tear gas,” he added.
‘Eyo said Ekpe, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery, ‘was allegedly injured during the incident.’
“Whatever he did, there is a 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,” he stated.
He added that the incident was traumatic for workers and patients, noting that the NMA had begun an indefinite strike in protest.
Reacting to the claims, the Commissioner of Police in Akwa Ibom State, Baba Azare, said police officers only accompanied the EFCC officials to verify the operation after the hospital management contacted him.
“The EFCC went for an arrest in the hospital this morning, and the CMD called me to verify if my men were among those in the hospital,” he said.
Azare explained that he later confirmed from the EFCC that the officers were acting on a court order linked to an ongoing case.
“I called the CMD and advised him to open the gate for them to carry that man because it is a legitimate duty,” he added.
The incident has also sparked reactions on social media, with several Nigerians criticising the EFCC’s conduct and describing it as an excessive use of force.
One X user, Richard David, questioned the agency’s priorities, writing, “When EFCC claimed that they did not know CBEX officials who scammed nearly one million Nigerians were operating, some of you were talking down on the victims. Now the EFCC has burst the safe haven of a hospital where your sick loved ones are and you are shouting?”
Another X user, identified as @Shaibu, described the incident as “shameful and disgraceful.”
“You came to the hospital requesting their expertise, and somehow you are trying to justify intimidation. Even if the doctor or healthcare worker is the suspect, the EFCC can only arrest when they have a warrant. Choosing not to cooperate with the EFCC is not a crime,” the user wrote.
Another X user, @MaduforUch2532, argued that hospitals operate under strict protocols and security procedures.
“A hospital is not a criminal hideout. Medical institutions have protocols, patient privacy obligations and security procedures. Staff reacting to unidentified masked men within hospital premises is not surprising,” the user stated.
