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The Nigeria Police Force has honoured 10 officers killed during a deadly confrontation with suspected bandits in Kebbi State, as Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Rilwan Disu vowed that the Force would intensify its campaign against banditry and other violent crimes.
The fallen personnel, members of the Special Intervention Squad, were honoured during a memorial parade held at the Force Headquarters in Abuja on Monday, August 24, 2026.
According to the IGP, the officers were killed on August 10 while confronting a heavily armed group of suspected bandits along the Rafin Makuku axis of Sakaba Local Government Area, Kebbi State.
Police said the officers intercepted suspected bandits believed to be moving between Zamfara and Kebbi states, triggering a fierce gun battle.
The confrontation left 10 police officers dead and two others injured, while two civilians were also killed.
The police said the security personnel inflicted significant losses on the attackers during the encounter, with at least 17 suspected bandits killed and four motorcycles belonging to the group destroyed.
IGP Disu described the slain personnel as courageous officers who paid the ultimate price while carrying out their constitutional responsibility of protecting lives and property.
He vowed that their deaths would not weaken the Force’s determination to combat armed groups.
The police chief also assured the families of the fallen officers that the Force would continue to support them and ensure that the sacrifices of their loved ones were remembered.
Beyond pursuing those responsible for attacks on security personnel, Disu said the police would strengthen cooperation with the Armed Forces, other security agencies, state governments and local communities in confronting banditry, terrorism and other violent crimes.
The incident again highlights the dangerous security environment confronting personnel deployed across parts of Nigeria’s North-West.
It is also significant that police said the armed group was moving between Zamfara and Kebbi. That underscores one of the central challenges facing security agencies: criminal networks can operate across state boundaries, making intelligence sharing, coordinated operations and control of movement corridors critical to disrupting them.
While the killing of 17 suspected bandits represents a tactical outcome for security forces, the loss of 10 trained Special Intervention Squad officers and two civilians demonstrates the enormous human cost of the continuing conflict.
For the Nigeria Police Force, the next test will therefore go beyond retaliation.
Can security agencies dismantle the networks, supply routes and safe havens sustaining these armed groups before another community — or another group of security personnel — comes under attack?
