Image illustrating terrorist activity in Nigeria. Photo Source: Africa Press.
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Claim: A Facebook page, @Shine Borno, posted an image allegedly showing officers killed by bandits on Aug. 10, 2026, at Rafi’s Makuku of Sakaba Local Government Area of Kebbi State.
Verdict: Misleading! Although several credible reports and the Nigeria Police Force confirmed that 10 of its officers were slain, the image shared is AI-generated.
Full Text
A Facebook page, Shine Borno, posted an image (archived here) with the claim that it shows slain bodies of officers killed in the Rafin Makuku axis in Sakaka Local Government Area of Kebbi State, on Aug. 12, 2026.
The caption on the image reads, “Nigeria Police Confirm 10 Officers Killed In Kebbi Gun Battle, Say 17 Bandits Were Neutralised. Copied.”
As of August 15, 2026, the claim had attracted 1,300 reactions, 285 comments, and 39 reposts as of press time.
Reacting to the claim, a Facebook user, Apaer Aaron, commented, “A catering nation won’t keep allowing its workforce and citizens to diminish on a daily basis without deadly orders; please shift.
“If the Federal government is ready to fight insurgency, who are the bandits, boko haram and herdsmen? I weep for young men and women who are willing to join the Nigerian Army forces. It would have been better to look for better work to do,” another user, Jeffrey Agber, commented.
Simeon Otilo asked, “Why do these kinds of things always happen to our Nigerian forces?”
The claim has since gone viral, as seen here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, here on Facebook.
Due to the claim’s virality and the issue’s sensitivity, DUBAWA investigated the claim and image.
Verification
We conducted a Google reverse image search but could not find any related images to the viral picture.
DUBAWA then conducted a keyword search and found that The Punch, The Cable, Daily Trust, and other credible outlets reported the attack. The Nigerian Police Force confirmed the attack and the killing of ten officers and other innocent civilians by the armed bandits in the village in a post on Aug. 13, 2026.
We subjected the viral image to Artificial Intelligence (AI) detection tools. IsThisAI indicated that the image contained 91 per cent AI elements, while the Hive Detect tool showed a 58.1 per cent AI-generated image.
However, DUBAWA further scrutinised the image and found that a Nigerian Army helmet was visible near the heads of the slain officers. At the same time, media reports and authorities had not confirmed the killing of any soldiers during the attack.
Conclusion
The image showing that bandits killed officers is misleading. Our Verification reveals that the incident happened in Kebbi, but the attached photo is AI-generated.
This fellowship is implemented by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) with support from the European Union.
