‘My son was innocent,’ mother of boy killed by EFCC operatives cries for justice

•He was a fugitive —Police

Residents of Kanshio community in Makurdi, the capital city of Benue State, are still mourning the death of a 16-year-old boy, Atser Sessugh, who was allegedly killed by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) attached to the Makurdi office.

Our correspondent, who visited the community last weekend, reports that residents are still trooping into the mud house of the family of the young apprentice and JSS 3 student to console the distraught mother, Ms Jennifer Asar.

Sessugh was reportedly killed by EFCC operatives on May 23, 2026, having allegedly escaped from EFCC custody alongside two others, James Onuh and Solomon Aondoakura Orhena.

But family members of the deceased faulted the allegations levelled against the young lad, whom his mother described as a father figure to his siblings.

The 35-year-old mother, Ms Asar, a single mother of five, said Sessugh, who was her first child, had occasionally engaged in menial jobs to support the family and expressed deep concern about the allegations levelled against her son.

Narrating the last moments with the family, Sessugh’s mother, in tears, explained how she got the news of the death of her son. According to her, the deceased and one of his friends identified as Godwin had gone out on a motorcycle that fateful day, only for her to later be told by a neighbour that her son had been killed.

The 35-year-old mother stated that her son had earlier been arrested by the EFCC on trumped-up charges but was later released.

According to her, “Sessugh had earlier been arrested, and at the time of his arrest, I was in the hospital because my little child was sick, and by the time we were discharged from the hospital, I met my son (Sessugh) and found out what happened to him.

“He told me that he was arrested while he was returning from work but was later released and that the people (EFCC operatives) held his phone, saying that he should go and look for N100,000 to collect his phone.

“It was two days after he told me about what happened to him and how he was arrested and released from EFCC custody that he was killed.

“On that fateful day, I was at home going about my normal house activities when a woman came and informed me that my son had been shot. I was shocked. I didn’t know what to do. I went to the B Division Police Station and the Police Command but didn’t get any reasonable information.

“It was later that I discovered that it was officials of the EFCC who killed him. The EFCC are still with the body. I’m yet to see his corpse till now. They haven’t come to me, but my people and his oga have been following up the issue with the EFCC.

“My son had told me two days before his death that the EFCC people had arrested him but released him because they didn’t find anything against him. He was on bail and not in their custody when they killed him.

“You can go around our community and find out about Sessugh. My son was a very good boy. He worked at construction sites and was also an apprentice at a furniture workshop. He was always dedicated to his hustles. He had been supporting me in his little way because he was my first child.

“Look at where we live,” she said, pointing to a mud house. “My son had been a source of encouragement to me anytime I broke down in tears. He had promised to face his studies and the furniture work, saying that the future would be better.

“But now the EFCC officers have cut short the dream. They killed my son.”

The distraught mother appealed to the state government not to allow the death of her son to go the way others had gone.

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“What I need is justice. I was told that at the time my son was shot and before he died, he was shouting the name of the officer who shot him. I want the officer who killed my son to be sacked and prosecuted so that he will not do the same thing to other innocent people in the future.

“I also want the government to help me get his corpse and support me in burying him, and any other support the government can give me.”

Corroborating what the deceased’s mother said, the deceased’s furniture boss, Philip Udo, described the apprentice as a dedicated and committed boy.

“He was honest and highly transparent in all he did. On that fateful day, two EFCC officials called one Godwin, Sessugh’s friend, to come with Sessugh to the hotel to see them.

“When they arrived at the hotel on Godwin’s bike, Sessugh got down and opened the hotel gate, and they rode inside. On sighting them, the EFCC operatives brought out their guns and started chasing them. It was during this process that he was shot at close range and killed. They later took his body away with them following intervention from community people, who insisted that they must go with the body.

“It is very important for us to inform you that the EFCC had released the boy on bail but withheld his handset. Sessugh, before his death, told us that they released him, held his phone and asked him to go and look for N100,000 and come and bail his phone.

“This is a boy who had only an Opay account. Even the Opay account is the smallest type. He was yet to even get his Bank Verification Number (BVN), so he could not operate a big bank account as the EFCC officials are claiming. He is not a criminal and has never been.

“We went to the EFCC, but they insisted that the officers were on an undercover assignment and that the boy was a fugitive. That he was on the run.

“We call for an independent investigation into this matter. We want justice, and our boy too deserves justice. We heard about the unholy activities of this commission, but we never thought it was this bad.”

Also, the proprietress of New Educational Teaching Academic College, Makurdi, Mrs Mimido Aondoana, described the deceased as a very obedient person.

She explained that the mother of the 16-year-old Sessugh had registered him in her school after he had left school for a while due to financial constraints.

The proprietress added that there was an agreement with the mother about the payment plan for her son.

According to Mrs Aondoana, “The deceased’s mother came to register him in our school after he had been out of school for some time. Sessugh was obediently coming for coaching. He was good in Integrated Science.

“The agreement we had with his mother was that she should be paying Sessugh’s school fees in instalments from the proceeds of her garri business.

“The day I came to find out why he was no longer forthcoming was when I heard the ugly news of his death.”

Benue Police React

The Benue State Police Command, in a statement issued, alleged that the deceased was involved in a fraud and cybercrime case being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

According to the spokesperson for the command, DSP Udeme Edet, “A report made available to the Benue State Commissioner of Police indicates that on April 28, 2026, personnel of the EFCC Makurdi arrested three suspects — James Onuh, Atser Sessugh and Solomon Aondoakura Orhena — in connection with a case of fraud and cybercrime.

“These suspects reportedly escaped from lawful custody at the EFCC Makurdi facility on May 4, 2026, and went into hiding.

“On May 23, 2026, at about 1500hrs, credible information was received by the EFCC that the fleeing suspects had been sighted at their hideout behind Mechanic Village, Kanshio, Makurdi.

“Upon arrival at the scene, operatives sighted a group of young men suspected to be cultists who opened fire on the EFCC operatives and escaped during the exchange of gunfire that followed.

“While retreating from the scene after exchanging fire with the hoodlums, the EFCC operatives sighted one of the escapees, Atser Sessugh, lying in a pool of blood by the roadside.”

The statement added that the suspect was immediately picked up and taken to the Police Cottage Hospital, Makurdi, by the operatives, where he was confirmed dead. It added that his corpse had been deposited at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital mortuary for preservation and autopsy.

While the Commissioner of Police, Ifeanyi Emenari, had directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police, CID, to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident, the CP said efforts were ongoing to apprehend the other fleeing fugitives.

The Commissioner of Police, however, assured the public of a thorough investigation and reiterated the Command’s commitment to uphold the rule of law.

Efforts to get the reaction of the state head of the EFCC in Makurdi were not successful, as he declined comment on the incident. However, an official of the commission who craved anonymity told our correspondent that the deceased was a fugitive who escaped from their custody alongside two others.