The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has explained the circumstances surrounding the visit of its operatives to the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Akwa Ibom State, on Tuesday.
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In a statement issued via its X handle, the Commission said the visit by operatives of its Uyo Zonal Directorate was to authenticate a medical report presented by a suspect under remand by a justice of the Federal High Court, Uyo, over alleged fraud.
According to the EFCC, the suspect had presented a medical report that required verification by the hospital management.
“The Tuesday, May 12, 2026, visit of operatives of the Uyo Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, UUTH, in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State was informed by the need to authenticate a medical report presented by a suspect under remand by Justice M.A Onyetunu of the Federal High Court, Uyo, for allegedly defrauding multiple micro finance banks, including University of Uyo Micro Finance Bank.
“The suspect had presented a medical report which required authentication by the UUTH management. The Commission wrote two different letters, dated March 11, 2026 and April 20, 2026, to the hospital management to this effect without receiving any response. The Investigating Officer handling the matter took the further step of visiting the hospital to enquire about the status of the request. Still, no response,” the statement read.
The Commission said operatives later visited the Chief Medical Director of the hospital on Tuesday as a last resort to make further enquiries, but alleged that they were met with resistance.
“As a last resort, operatives of the Commission visited the Chief Medical Director of the hospital on Tuesday to make further enquiries, only to be locked in with a false alarm and subjected to unprovoked attack by misguided staff of the facility who pelted them with stones and other dangerous objects,” it stated.
The EFCC further alleged that the CMD directed that the hospital gates be shut, preventing lawful exit, while police authorities in Akwa Ibom State reportedly advised that the gates be opened to allow the operatives to leave peacefully.
“While within the hospital, the CMD reportedly directed that gates of the facility be shut, making it impossible for any lawful enquiry to be made. Police authorities in Akwa Ibom State advised the CMD to open the hospital gates to enable the operatives exit the premises peacefully but the entreaties were turned down,” the statement added.
Despite the incident, the Commission said its operatives maintained restraint and eventually left the premises without disrupting hospital activities.
“In spite of the hostility and provocation, there was no breakdown of law and order as the operatives exercised restraint and professionally made their ways out of the hospital premises without disrupting its activities,” it said.
The EFCC also stressed that its operational engagements are lawful and urged members of the public and institutions to cooperate with the agency during investigations, warning that obstruction of its duties amounts to a criminal offence.
“Enquiries bordering on operational engagements of the Commission are lawful. It is therefore necessary to remind the public and corporate bodies that they are obligated to cooperate with the agency in such circumstances. Contrary action could be deemed as obstruction, which is criminal with attendant legal consequences,” it stated.
Recall that UUTH was thrown into crisis following the raid, which reportedly led to the arrest of some staff members and a subsequent indefinite strike by medical doctors and health workers.
Eyewitness accounts said EFCC operatives, alongside police officers, whisked away the Deputy Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee, Prof. Effiong Ekpe and three other staff members.
Some staff members alleged that the confrontation left several people injured, while phones were damaged as attempts were made to record the incident.
Following the incident, the Nigerian Medical Association in Akwa Ibom State and the Joint Health Sector Unions directed a total shutdown of services, describing the action as unacceptable.
Confirming the incident, the public relations officer of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr Gabriel Eyo, described the EFCC’s action as an onslaught on the hospital and its workers.
“In the early hours of this morning, masked men wearing EFCC jackets stormed into the hospital premises, walked into the Deputy Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee’s (CMAC) office, Prof. Effiong Ekpe, and they beat him to a pulp.
“They dragged him like a common criminal. When members of staff, students and other health workers walked into the hospital tried to resist them, and they shot sporadically into the air at the hospital premises and dispersed the crowd with tear gas.
“The NMA just had a meeting of its members, so we’ve begun the indefinite strike. The resolutions will be made public very soon.
“A lot of injured people that were asthmatic. I think our NMHL man is asthmatic so he is having reactions to ETH gas because people that we believe will struggle and we can’t actually quantify the figure as of this point in time,” he stated.
However, the Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom State Command, Baba Azare, said police operatives were deployed alongside the EFCC on the instruction of a court in an ongoing case and maintained that the operation was lawful and coordinated with hospital authorities.
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