Judex Okoro, Calabar

Mrs Christian Ekanem, wife of the Medical Director of Akwa Ibom Specialist Hospital, Uyo, and Assistant Director at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, kidnapped by gunmen has regained freedom after 11 days in captivity.

Mrs Ekanemn was picked up in front of her residence at School Road, Satellite Town on March 10, 2020, and taken away

She was released on Saturday, March 21, 2020, about 10: pm by her abductors and abandoned at Marina Beach in Calabar South.

Speaking with our correspondent on phone, she said: “I thank God Almighty that I came back alive. I am really coming from another world. I didn’t know I would come back to my family.

“I was beaten to a pulp. There was this day I almost died because of the beating but God was with me. I thank all who prayed for me.”

Also confirming her release, the Special Assistant to Governor Ben Ayade on Security in the Southern senatorial zone, Mr Ani Essien, said: “As I talk with you, I am with her, and I am taking her back to her husband.

“Well, it has not been easy but I can assure you that very soon the issue of kidnapping would be a thing of the past in Cross River. The governor is very committed to securing the lives and property of all residents in the state. We only solicit the cooperation of all.”

Following the kidnap of Mrs Ekanem, doctors in Cross River have embarked on an indefinite strike in protest against the incessant kidnapping of their colleagues and their relatives.

In a communiqué jointly made available to newsmen, doctors in the state led by the chairman of NMA in Cross River, Dr Agam Ayuk, and Secretary, Dr Ezoke Epoke, NMA, they said: “The NMA in Cross River will henceforth withdraw all medical services without any notice anytime a doctor or their relatives is taken captive in the future. The unfortunate incident of the kidnap of the wife of a member of NMA is worrisome.

“NMA in Cross River had proceeded with the total and indefinite withdrawal of medical services in both the private, public and institutional hospitals in the state.

“This include the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Federal Neuro Psychiatry Hospital, General Hospital, Medical Centres, Mission Hospitals and private clinics with immediate effects.”

The doctors lamented that about 15 doctors and their relatives had been kidnapped in the state since 2017.