EFCC Denies 16-Year-Old Suspect Died in Custody; Claims Escaped Teenager Was Shot in Fierce Makurdi Gun Duel With Cultists

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has broken its silence regarding a growing public relations and human rights storm in Benue State, categorically denying that a 16-year-old cybercrime suspect, Asar Michael Sesugh, died while inside its detention facility.

The official clarification manual was unzipped on Saturday, June 6, 2026, by the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale. The apex anti-graft body moved to execute an aggressive public brief following intense domestic scrutiny and a series of viral social media campaigns spearheaded by civil society groups demanding transparency over the tragic demise of the teenager.

According to the commission’s data logs, Sesugh was initially swept up alongside 25 other suspected internet fraudsters during a coordinated raid executed by the Makurdi Zonal Directorate on April 28, 2026. Following their arrest, the suspects were profiled and remanded under a legal custody shield granted by a local Magistrate Court. However, the administrative timeline suffered a severe fracture on May 4, when Sesugh, alongside two other detainees identified as James Onuh and Solomon Aondoakura Orhena, requested permission to use the facility’s lavatory. Once inside, the trio allegedly bypassed security lines, broke through the toilet’s roof infrastructure, and vanished into the metropolis.

The agency stated that its intelligence tracking loops successfully re-established a visual on Sesugh on May 21, tracing his location to a hidden transit camp within the Kanshio axis of Makurdi.

“The Commission wishes to clear the air and state clearly that the dead suspect did not die in custody and was not on bail at any time,” Oyewale declared in the official text. “Upon sighting our tactical team closing in on the Kanshio location to execute a re-arrest, Sesugh and his suspected cult associates immediately opened heavy fire on our operatives. Our men were forced to return fire in absolute self-defense. While the other armed elements managed to escape through the bush trails during the shootout, Sesugh was later discovered lying in a pool of blood by the roadside. He was instantly evacuated to the Police Cottage Hospital at the State Headquarters, where medical officers confirmed him dead.”

The EFCC’s operational layout, however, stands in stark, painful contrast to an emotional account delivered by the deceased’s mother, Jennifer Atsar. Speaking to journalists on Saturday, the distraught mother completely rejected the state’s narrative, labeling allegations connecting her Junior Secondary School 3 son to cyber fraud, cultism, or gun violence as a malicious cover-up script.

Mrs. Atsar alleged that her son, who supported the family as an apprentice furniture maker, left their residence after receiving a mysterious phone call. She claimed that two plain-clothes EFCC operatives staying at a localized community hotel had summoned the boy’s friend. According to her witness tracking, when Sesugh opened the hotel gate, one of the operatives drew a sidearm without warning, stampeding the terrified teenager into a sprint before chasing him down and executing him at close range. The family has demanded an independent forensic audit and the immediate release of his remains for burial.

The Benue State Police Command has stepped into the center of the crossfire to serve as an impartial judicial shield. State Police Public Relations Officer, Udeme Edet, confirmed that the Commissioner of Police has formally directed the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) to pull all radio logs, ballistic signatures, and hotel security inputs into a comprehensive homicide investigation.

As the body remains deposited at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital pending a mandatory coroner’s autopsy, the federal cabinet is monitoring the fallout closely. With public sentiment highly sensitized toward youth safety and institutional accountability across the 2026 calendar, the pressure has shifted entirely onto law enforcement to present definitive forensic proof to settle whether the teenager was a casualty of a fierce deep-cover gun duel or a victim of excessive institutional force.