Politics
…calls for full accountability
THE Human Rights Association (HRA) has condemned in the strongest terms the murder of three Federal Road Safety Corps officers ambushed and shot dead by armed bandits on June 4, while carrying out official duties along the Tsamiya-Illo Road in Bagudo Local Government Area of Kebbi State.
The HRA also called on the government of Nigeria to investigate this attack with the full resources of the state, to identify and prosecute all those responsible, and to implement without further delay the security measures necessary to protect federal personnel operating on highways in northwest Nigeria.
Saad Kassis-Mohamed, HRA chairman, in a statement made available to Realnews at the weekend, said: “The deliberate targeting and killing of public servants engaged in the protection of civilian lives on Nigerian roads constitutes a grave violation of the right to life and an assault on the capacity of the Nigerian state to fulfil its duty of care to its citizens and its officers alike.”
“At approximately 12:55pm on June 4, 2026, three officers of the Federal Road Safety Corps were carrying out official duties along the Tsamiya-Illo Road in Bagudo Local Government Area when they were ambushed by armed men believed to be bandits.
“Spotting the attackers, the officers attempted to flee. The assailants pursued them on motorcycles and opened fire at close range, killing all three at the scene, ” he said.
The officers have been formally identified as Deputy Chief Road Marshal Assistant Umar Aliyu, Senior Road Marshal Assistant Ezra Manu Gona, and Road Marshal Assistant I Mansur Ibrahim Nasir.
“All three were on active duty in the service of the Nigerian public at the moment of their deaths. The HRA extends its deepest condolences to their families, colleagues, and the Federal Road Safety Corps,” he said.
The killings of June 4 are not an isolated incident but part of a documented pattern of organised armed attacks on federal personnel in Kebbi State. On 13 May 2026, less than a month before the FRSC ambush, two officers of the Nigeria Customs Service — Assistant
Superintendent Bamigboye and Deputy Superintendent Dom — were killed in broad daylight when armed men believed to be Lakurawa terrorists invaded two security checkpoints in Bagudu Local Government Area of the same state. In March 2026, eleven soldiers and a police officer were killed in a separate ambush by gunmen in Shanga Local Government Area of Kebbi State.
The frequency and organisation of these attacks indicate the presence of armed criminal networks operating with sustained capability in northwest Nigeria and with effective impunity.
The HRA notes that the families of Umar Aliyu, Ezra Manu Gona, and Mansur Ibrahim Nasir are entitled to a full account of the circumstances of the attack on their relatives and to the assurance that those responsible will face justice.
The HRA further notes that the protection of federal personnel carrying out lawful duties on Nigerian highways is a direct obligation of the Nigerian state. FRSC officers serve a function that is inseparable from the protection of civilian life: their presence on Nigerian roads exists to prevent the deaths of ordinary citizens in road traffic incidents. The killing of these officers does not only take the lives of three individuals and devastate their families. It removes the state’s protective presence from roads that members of the public depend upon.
The HRA calls on the Nigerian government to treat the security of federal personnel in Kebbi State as a matter of the highest institutional urgency and to ensure that those who carry out official duties in that region are provided with the protection the nature of the threat they face demands.
HRA chairman, Saad Kassis-Mohamed stated: “Umar Aliyu, Ezra Manu Gona, and Mansur Ibrahim Nasir were doing their jobs. They were on a Nigerian road in the service of Nigerian citizens when they were hunted down and killed. In the same state, two Customs officers were killed in May. Eleven soldiers and a police officer were killed in March. These are not random acts of violence. They are organised, repeated attacks on the personnel of the Nigerian state, and they are continuing because those responsible have not been brought to justice.
The HRA calls on the Nigerian government to investigate the killings of 4 June with the full resources available to it, to prosecute those responsible, and to ensure that federal officers in Kebbi State can carry out their duties without being murdered for doing so.”
“Umar Aliyu, Ezra Manu Gona, and Mansur Ibrahim Nasir were doing their jobs. They were on a Nigerian road in the service of Nigerian citizens when they were hunted down and killed. In the same state, two Customs officers were killed in May. Eleven soldiers and a police officer were killed in March. These are organised, repeated attacks on the personnel of the Nigerian state, and they are continuing because those responsible have not been brought to justice. The HRA calls on Nigeria to investigate these killings and prosecute those responsible.”
Saad Kassis-Mohamed, Chairman, Human Rights Association
The HRA calls specifically on the Government of Nigeria to direct the relevant federal investigative and prosecutorial authorities to conduct a full, thorough, and expeditious investigation into the murder of Deputy Chief Road Marshal Assistant Umar Aliyu, Senior Road Marshal Assistant Ezra Manu Gona, and Road Marshal Assistant I Mansur Ibrahim Nasir on June 4, 2026, and to identify and prosecute all those responsible; to ensure that the families of the three deceased officers receive a complete official account of the circumstances of the attack and are provided with appropriate support; to implement immediate and substantive security measures to protect FRSC, Customs, and other federal personnel operating along highways in Kebbi State and the northwest region; to conduct a comprehensive review of the intelligence and security failures that have allowed armed groups to conduct repeated, organised attacks on federal personnel in the same area over successive months; and to ensure that those convicted of attacks on public servants are sentenced in accordance with the gravity of the offences committed.
The Human Rights Association is an initiative of the WeCare Foundation, Cape Town, active across Africa, South Asia, and the Gulf region. The HRA works to protect the human rights of individuals facing unjust detention, denial of medical care, and due process violations, and engages directly with United Nations mechanisms to advocate on their behalf.
A.I
June 8, 2026
Tags: Assistant Umar Aliyu Ezra Manu Gona Mansur Ibrahim Nasir Umar Aliyu WeCare Foundation