Posted by The state government’s failure to save Professor Ekanem Ephraim, the chief neurology consultant at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, has been bemoaned by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Cross River State.
Since being abducted on July 13 of this year by unidentified gunmen near the Atimbo Axis of Calabar Municipality, Ephraim has been held captive for approximately four months.
Numerous people have conjectured that she must have been killed since her whereabouts have remained unknown.
Governor Bassey Otu declared at the beginning of September 2023 that his government has purchased technology to identify kidnappers and other similar criminals, making it nearly impossible for abduction to flourish in the state.
However, Patrick Egaga, a director of SERVICOM and another professor, was abducted two days earlier from his home inside the UNICAL staff quarters.
Dr. Felix Archibong, the state’s chairman of NMA, lamented Ephraim’s protracted incarceration in a Calabar interview with journalists.
He expressed sadness that despite many assurances to that end, security services and the state administration have not been able to obtain her release.
He stated that since many people have been kidnapped after Ephraim’s kidnapping, the state has become uninhabitable as a result of kidnapper activity.
“This is the state of affairs, and it is unfortunate that our colleague remains in detention after 116 days.”
“We are making every effort not to use industrial action as a substitute for pressing the government and security services to honor their commitments,” he said.
Before it was called off, the industrial action caused a state-wide healthcare crisis for almost 40 days.
Archibong claimed that the government’s persistent pleading and assurances that they would save the professor forced them to end the strike.