Eight in police custody amid search for abducted UNICAL professor

Eight suspects are currently in police custody over the abduction of Ekanem Phillip-Ephraim, a professor at the University of Calabar (UNICAL).

Ekanem, a professor of medicine, was abducted by gunmen at her private hospital in Atimbo, Calabar on July 13.

The academic has since been in captivity for over eight weeks as the Cross River state police continue their search for her.

Irene Ugbo, the police spokesperson in Cross River, confirmed to TheCable on Monday that a total of eight suspects will be arraigned in court over their involvement in the abduction.

She said the suspects were arrested at various locations and at different times over the past weeks.

“We arrested about eight suspects who were charged to court on Friday last week. They have been charged with conspiracy and other offences. We are still trying to trace the professor,” Ugbo, a superintendent of police, said.

“One of the suspects who led us to the seven others who were arrested said the last time he saw the woman was on a particular day before she was transported to the other side of a river.

“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 said the suspects gave useful intel that would help the police in its quest to rescue the abducted academic.