Thirty-five-year-old Ms Jennifer Atsar, whose 16-year-old son, Sesugh, was allegedly murdered by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Makurdi on May 23, 2026, shares with JOHN CHARLES her pain over losing her child and the need for her son’s killer to be punished

Could you introduce yourself?

My name is Jennifer Atsar. I am 35 years old and live in Kanshio, Makurdi. I am the mother of Sesugh, who was killed by operatives of the EFCC.

What do you do for a living?

I fry and sell garri. It is from the proceeds that I take care of my children, while Sesugh also helped whenever he worked on construction sites.

How many children do you have?

I have five children, and Sesugh was my first child. He would have been 17 years old on December 26 this year, so he was 16 years and a few months old at the time he was killed.

What was your son doing before the tragic incident?

My son was living with me here. He was learning furniture-making and, at the same time, was a student of the New Educational Teaching Academic College, Makurdi. He was in JSS 3 and was supposed to proceed to SSS 1.

He would have gone farther than that, but there was no money. Most of the time, he did menial jobs to complement what I earned to sustain the family. He also attended the workshop where he learnt furniture-making.

It was gathered that your son was arrested by the EFCC and locked up for days with two other people before he escaped. How would you react to this allegation?

I was not at home when he was said to have been arrested because my fifth child was ill and I was with the child in the hospital. Later, he (Sesugh) came back and said he had been released, but they held his phone and told him to go and find N100,000 before they would release it.

What happened thereafter?

He was at home with me that fateful day when his friend came, and they both went out. A few hours later, one of my neighbours rushed to my house and said they had killed my son.

What circumstance led to the killing of your son?

I was told that two EFCC operatives, who were in mufti, called my son’s friend to come to a hotel located around the community where the EFCC men were staying.

When they (my son and his friend) arrived at the hotel on a motorcycle, Sesugh got down, opened the gate, and they rode inside. Upon sighting them, one of the EFCC officers drew a gun. I was told that my son ran when he saw the gun. They chased him and shot him at close range.

As soon as my son was shot, the officials wanted to escape, but people in the area insisted that the EFCC must go with the body. My son was even calling the name of the officer who shot him while gasping for breath.

He demanded water, but when the people around the area insisted that they must carry him along, they ordered a vehicle and took him to the police headquarters in Makurdi.

Did you visit the police headquarters or the EFCC office when you heard of your son’s death?

I went to the 'B' Division Police Station and the state police command, but I did not get any reasonable information. All along, I never knew that my son was killed by the EFCC, but later, some people said it was an EFCC official who killed him.

The EFCC is still holding the body. I have yet to see his corpse. They have neither met me nor sent any message.

My son had told me two days before his death that EFCC officials arrested him but released him because they found nothing against him. He was on bail and not in their custody when they killed him.

What did the EFCC operative say your son’s offence was?

One of my sisters and some neighbours, including his oga (boss), where he was learning furniture-making, later went to the EFCC office. The head of the state office said his men were at the scene of the incident undercover and that when they saw my son, they accused him and his friend of trying to shoot the officers.

I asked myself, “How could that happen? My son cannot be in possession of a gun. How and from where?” The people who visited the EFCC told me that their boss said Sesugh wrote a confessional statement in which he admitted being involved in fraud and having an OPay account.

What other allegations did the EFCC level against your late son?

I was also told that they accused my son of disguising himself as a lady on Facebook and that, apart from selling drugs, he was a cultist. I believe they fabricated all these allegations to justify the killing of my son.

Everyone within this community can attest to my son’s character. He was an easygoing person.

They told the people who went there that my son was arrested and escaped from their custody. How could that have happened? My son told me he was arrested while returning from work and was later released, while his phone was withheld, and he was asked to go and find N100,000 before it would be returned to him.

This was a boy who only had an OPay account. He had yet to obtain a Bank Verification Number for the account and, therefore, could not have operated a major bank account as the EFCC officials claimed.

He was not a criminal and had never been one. Whatever he earned, he used to assist me in taking care of his siblings. If you move around our community, people can attest to his character.

What is your appeal to the government?

As I am talking to you now, I have yet to see his corpse. This was the person who had been helping me take care of his siblings through the menial jobs he did. Whenever he did not go to the workshop, he engaged in other menial jobs to support me.

Look at where we live (points to a mud house). My son had been a source of encouragement to me whenever I broke down in tears. He always told me that, with God’s help, the future would be better. But now, EFCC officers have cut short that dream. They killed my son.

Let them release my son’s corpse so that he can rest in peace. What I want is justice for my son. The officer who shot him must be made to face the consequences. They said my son was shouting the name of the EFCC officer who shot him. (Saturday PUNCH)

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