Healthcare services across Akwa Ibom State were disrupted on Tuesday after the Nigerian Medical Association declared an indefinite strike following a clash between doctors and operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital.
The incident sparked conflicting accounts from the EFCC, the NMA, and the Akwa Ibom State Police Command over what happened inside the hospital premises.
In a communiqué after an emergency virtual meeting, the NMA accused EFCC operatives of storming the hospital and assaulting Prof. Eyo Ekpe, a cardiothoracic surgeon and Deputy Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee at UUTH.
The association alleged that the senior doctor was beaten, handcuffed, and taken away alongside other doctors and staff who tried to stop the arrest.
“That Prof. Eyo Ekpe was apprehended within the premises of UUTH by masked EFCC operatives who physically assaulted him, beat him severely to the point of bleeding and forcefully took him into custody,” the communiqué stated.
The NMA further alleged that gunshots were fired within the hospital, and some people who recorded the incident had their phones seized. It also claimed that its state chairman, Prof. Aniekan Imo Peter, was shoved and exposed to teargas when he approached the operatives for clarification.
In response, the association announced an immediate and indefinite withdrawal of medical services across the state. It demanded the release of all detained doctors and staff, a public apology from the EFCC, and threatened legal action seeking N1 billion in damages for what it called physical, emotional, and professional trauma.
The EFCC denied assaulting any doctor. It said operatives only visited the hospital to verify a medical report submitted by a suspect standing trial for allegedly defrauding several microfinance banks, including the University of Uyo Microfinance Bank.
According to the commission, it had sent two letters to the hospital management requesting authentication of the report but received no response. The EFCC said tensions rose after hospital management allegedly shut the gates against its operatives, and some staff attacked officials with stones and other objects during the standoff.
The Akwa Ibom State Police Command also denied involvement in the operation. It said officers were only deployed after receiving a distress call from the hospital management over the presence of unidentified armed men on the premises.
