The death of 17-year-old Sesugh Atser during an encounter involving operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Makurdi, Benue State, has continued to generate controversy, with his family demanding justice and a detailed explanation of the circumstances surrounding the incident.
For 35-year-old Jennifer Asar, a mother of five, the loss remains deeply painful. She said she has struggled to cope since learning of her son’s death and has not been allowed to see his remains.
Speaking through tears, the single mother narrated the hardship she has faced while raising her children and the shock that followed the news of her son’s death.
“I can hardly sleep since his death and I have not seen his corpse,” she said.
“I sell garri to take care of my children since I parted ways with my husband.
“I was at home when people were spreading stories about my son’s death without informing me. When I eventually found out, I asked why they failed to tell me that my son was no more.
“I was told that he was killed on May 23. I had not seen him for about two weeks before his death was announced. I did not go looking for him because one of his friends came to pick him.
“He would have turned 17 in December and was preparing to enter SS1. He finished JSS, but there was no money to pay for his secondary school education. Just last month, I met a school proprietor who agreed to admit him while I paid the fees in installments.
“My son was a good boy. He sometimes worked at building sites to support me and was also learning furniture making.
“Though I was not there when he was killed, I was told he was shot dead by an EFCC officer.”
She alleged that her son had previously informed her that EFCC operatives arrested him, released him afterwards, but retained his phone pending the payment of N100,000.
“before his death, my son told me that the EFCC had arrested him and later released him but kept his phone, directing him to raise N100,000 before it would be returned.
“When I heard about his death, I went to the ‘B’ Division Police Station and the State Police Headquarters, but I did not get any meaningful information.
“After that, I could not continue searching for him because one of his siblings was sick and I was overwhelmed by grief. So, the chairman of our community and some youths took it upon themselves to find out what had happened.
“They went to the EFCC office and were told to return on Monday because their visit was on a Saturday. I did not go with them.
“Since they killed my son, I have not seen his corpse. That boy promised me he would go to school and make me proud, but now he is gone. The spirit of my son will not rest until the man who killed him is removed and made to face the law.
“Please look at the shanty where I live with my children. Does it look like the home of someone with money? We could not even afford his school fees, yet they branded him a fraudster and killed him.
“I am asking them to make public the amount of money they claimed was found in my son’s account because he was underage when he died. He was not a cultist and he was not a fraudster.”
Mother recounts son’s final days and struggle for education
A relative of the deceased, Philip Udo, said family members visited the EFCC office in search of answers and met with the acting Zonal Head of the commission.
According to him, officials claimed Sesugh and two other suspects escaped from detention during a rainstorm and were later tracked to a hotel in Makurdi, where they allegedly opened fire on operatives.
“We were told that Sesugh and two others escaped from EFCC detention during a rainstorm,” Udo said.
“They said undercover operatives later traced Sesugh and his friends to a hotel at Gberindyer settlement in Makurdi and that upon sighting the officers, the boys opened fire on them. They also read what they claimed was a statement made by Sesugh when he was first arrested.
“They alleged that he was involved in internet fraud. We are all shocked by the manner in which he was killed.
“We gathered from residents of the area where he died that the claim that he exchanged gunfire with EFCC officials was completely false.
“We were told that after he was shot, he cried out and told the officer who shot him in the chest that he had killed him. He was reportedly asking for water.
“Residents said the operatives initially wanted to abandon him in his own pool of blood, but people in the neighbourhood, who did not know who they were, insisted on his evacuation. It was at that point that other EFCC personnel arrived in official uniforms and took him to the Police Cottage Hospital.”
Family disputes EFCC account of shooting incident
The Proprietress of New Education Teaching Academy College, Mrs. Mimidoo Aondongu, also expressed sadness over the incident, recalling that the teenager’s mother approached her for admission in April.
According to her, the family struggled financially, but she agreed to accommodate the boy because he was intelligent and eager to continue his education.
“The mother told me that he stopped school after JSS because there was no money for him to continue,” she said.
“She wanted him to be registered with the assurance that she would pay the fees in installments. I agreed because I discovered that he was intelligent and eager to learn. I also advised that he begin preparatory lessons ahead of his planned resumption in June.
“He started attending the lessons and was consistent until I suddenly stopped seeing him. It was when I came to this house to find out why he had stopped attending classes that I discovered what had happened.
“His mother is a petty garri trader and intended to pay his fees from her earnings. I sympathized with her because the boy was brilliant, and I wanted to ensure he did not drop out of school. Unfortunately, this tragic development occurred.”
Police, EFCC provide official versions of events
While the EFCC has yet to release an official statement, a commission official who spoke anonymously denied that there was any deliberate attempt to kill the teenager.
“He was an escapee from our detention facility and was wanted. We cannot really say whose bullet killed him because there was shooting directed at our personnel,” the official said.
Meanwhile, the Benue State Police Command described the deceased as a fugitive and said he had been arrested alongside two others over alleged cybercrime offences before reportedly escaping from EFCC custody.
Police stated that intelligence later led operatives to a hideout in Makurdi, where suspected cultists allegedly opened fire on security personnel. According to the command, Sesugh was later found wounded and taken to the Police Cottage Hospital, where he was confirmed dead.
The police added that his remains had been deposited in a mortuary for preservation and autopsy, while the Commissioner of Police ordered a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident and efforts to apprehend other fleeing suspects.
As conflicting accounts continue to emerge, the teenager’s death has intensified calls for transparency, accountability and a thorough investigation to establish exactly what happened on the day Sesugh Atser lost his life.
