By Adesakin Adefemi
The Chief Medical Director of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Prof. Ememabasi Bassey has accused operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of invading the facility without a warrant and arresting a senior surgeon and four other staff over a fake medical report.
Bassey said the operatives stormed the hospital on Tuesday and took Prof. Eyo Ekpe, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery, and four other staff into custody without notifying management. He told journalists in Uyo on Wednesday that the document the EFCC sought to authenticate was not issued by the hospital.
“The medical report the operatives came to authenticate was fake, and that persons within the facility may have collaborated with outsiders to produce it,” he said. He added that the hospital’s letterhead had been widely reproduced outside the institution, and the version used in the suspect’s report was outdated.
The CMD said the incident had forced a shutdown of the 600-bed hospital, which attends to between 600 and 800 patients daily. Doctors have since embarked on an indefinite strike, leaving hundreds of patients stranded. “This is a situation that serves as a place of mass resort for millions of citizens of this state. On a daily basis, we would see anything between 600 to 800 patients,” he said.
Bassey recounted that the EFCC team went straight to Ekpe’s office without contacting him or other senior managers. He argued that if anyone should be held accountable for a delay in authenticating the report, it should be him as chief executive, not a staff member carrying out an assignment.
He said the confrontation escalated after the operatives returned with armed, hooded men, prompting panic among staff. Teargas was reportedly deployed, and some staff sustained injuries, including a head wound. Bassey said he later followed the vehicles to the EFCC regional office, where his detained staff were released after discussions with senior officers.
While condemning the conduct of the operatives involved, Bassey cautioned against blaming the entire EFCC. “I will not sit down here in good faith to run down the EFCC. EFCC is doing a good job in this country. Without EFCC, I would say that many of you would not even want to put your money in the bank,” he said.
The EFCC, through its Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, denied invading the hospital, insisting its operatives were on official assignment. The agency said it had written two letters to the hospital requesting authentication of a medical report linked to a fraud suspect but received no response.
The Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria and the Association of Resident Doctors at UUTH have condemned the raid and demanded disciplinary action against the operatives, compensation for victims, a public apology, and repairs to damaged property. They said the strike would continue until their demands were met.
