By Dianabasi Effiong
Uyo (FLOWERBUDNEWS): All clinics at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH) were shut on Wednesday morning as the Akwa Ibom branch of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) announced the withdrawal of services after staff face-off with armed personnel of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at the facility on Tuesday.
FLOWERBUDNEWS Correspondent, who visited the UUTH in the early hours of the day, reports that though the main gates of the facility were accessible to staff and visitors, all the clinics remained shut at about 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
Staff who came early for duties at the premises were seen discussing in groups outside their offices within the hospital while the clinics and the offices were locked.
A staff member, who asked our reporter whether he came for somebody or any patient, said, “Did you come for somebody? All the offices and all the clinics are not open today”.
The female staff member, who refused to disclose her name, added: “I am a staff member. Maybe you will meet the nurses here; the doctors have announced their withdrawal of services following what happened on Tuesday.
“I will leave now and come tomorrow to see whether the situation has improved.”
Some eyewitnesses had alleged that the EFCC personnel entered the hospital on Tuesday to arrest the Deputy Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC), Prof. Effiong Ekpe, a cardiothoracic surgeon.
They also alleged that masked persons wearing EFCC jackets entered the hospital premises and attempted to forcefully arrest Ekpe.
They alleged that the incident attracted resistance from some UUTH staff and others leading to a situation where more security personnel arrived and allegedly fired shots and tear gas to disperse those at the scene.
The eyewitnesses also alleged that many people sustained various degrees of injuries while some cell phones were damaged during the crisis.
The UUTH is a Federal Government-owned tertiary healthcare facility located on Abak Road in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.
A primary referral centre in Akwa Ibom, the UUTH also serves as a training facility for medical students affiliated with the University of Uyo.
Citing the incident, the NMA, a professional organisation for medical doctors in Nigeria, and the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), directed members in Akwa Ibom State to stop work indefinitely in protest.
The NMA’s Public Relations Officer in the state, Dr Gabriel Eyo, also alleged that the EFCC personnel had behaved in a manner he considered traumatic and inhumane during their operation.
He said that Prof. Ekpe, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at UUTH, was allegedly assaulted and dragged out of the hospital while preparing for surgery.
“Whatever offence he may have committed, there is due process. He should have been invited officially and not treated like a criminal inside a hospital,” he said.
According to Eyo, the professor sustained head injuries during the incident.
However, the EFCC, in a statement on Wednesday denied Eyo’s allegations, adding that its personnel were on a lawful assignment following a court’s directive.
The Commission’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, also stated that the EFCC was directed by Justice M.A. Onyetunu of the Federal High Court, Uyo, to determine the truth about a medical report presented by a suspect charged with allegations of defrauding several microfinance banks, including the University of Uyo Microfinance Bank.
According to him, the commission has written to the hospital management on two occasions (on March 11 and April 20, 2026) without receiving any response.
Oyewale also alleged that when the EFCC personnel visited the hospital for further enquiries, they were attacked by workers who pelted them with stones and other objects after the hospital gates were shut on the directive of the institution’s management.
Similarly, the Commissioner of Police (CP), Akwa Ibom State, Baba Mohammed Azare, said police officers only accompanied the EFCC to verify the identity of the operatives and ensure the execution of a court order, adding that the operation was lawful.
The CP, who spoke through the Command’s spokesperson, DSP Timfon John, restated his command’s resolve on professionalism, lawful policing, and protection of lives and property.