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- Police goes after hoodlums
From Judex Okoro, Calabar
Residents of Atimbo community in Calabar Municipality of Cross River State are in the grip of fear following the storming of the metropolis by a kidnapping gang, which abducted a Doctor of Neurology at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Professor (Mrs) Ekanem Philip Ephraim.
An eyewitness, who simply identified himself as Ebong, said the incident happened about 9:pm on Thursday around Mountain of Fire Church Road, off Atimbo in Calabar Municipality when four hefty young men stormed out of a Toyota vehicle and headed straight to Ehpraim consulting facility.
Pretending to have a patient inside the car, they demanded to see the professor urgently and when she came out to attend to them they whisked her way in their car just as they collected phones from the security guards around a popular church near the victims facility so that nobody can calls to the security agents.
A security source hinted that a group of armed men have infiltrated the metropolis and have been discreetly working with some hoodlums and moving around identifying those to attack, advising residents to watch out and monitor those who drives around their vicinity.
Confirming the kidnap, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, of Cross River State Police Command, SP Irene Ugbo, said the situation is being diligently addressed and there was no cause for alarm, adding “the command has promptly initiated a tactical operation to track down the perpetrators responsible for this reprehensible act.
“However, due to the audacity of the criminals, who seized the mobile phones of onlookers and even security guards present at the scene, the response time of the tactical teams was significantly hindered.
“It is indeed true that a medical practitioner was kidnapped last night. We are resolute in our relentless fight against crime, and our pursuit of the kidnappers is ongoing. Let be public be rest assured, we will bring them to justice,” SP Irene Ugbo assured.
