FACT-CHECK: Viral Image Linked to Death of 10 Nigerian Police Officers in Kebbi is Misleading & Likely AI-generated!
BY: Habeeb Adisa
Claim:
A post shared on WhatsApp and social media claims that the Nigeria Police Force “lost 10 men” while defending against a “terrorists invasion” in Kebbi State, Nigeria, and uses a photograph showing uniformed security personnel, military-style vehicles and numerous bodies covered in black bags as purported evidence of the attack.
The same or substantially similar photograph has also been used by other accounts reporting on the deaths of the 10 police officers, including PM News Nigeria and security analyst Zagazola Makama.
Verdict:
Misleading. Ten Nigerian police officers were killed in a gunbattle with armed men in Kebbi State on August 10, 2026. The death toll is confirmed by multiple reports, including the Associated Press and here.
However, the available accounts differ in how they characterise the attackers. AP described them as heavily armed rebels, while Nigerian reports have variously referred to them as suspected bandits, terrorists or criminal elements. The Nigeria Police Force itself described the incident as an attack by a large group of armed bandits.
The use of the term “terror attack” is therefore found in some Nigerian reporting. For example, PM News Nigeria reported that the Kebbi government would support families of the 10 officers killed in what it called a “terror attack.”
However, describing the incident as a “terrorists’ invasion” is a stronger claim than the available evidence establishes. The reported incident involved armed men moving between Zamfara and Kebbi and an ensuing gunbattle; the reports do not establish that terrorists invaded and captured or overran Kebbi territory.
Full Text:
A post shared on WhatsApp claims that the Nigeria Police Force “lost 10 men” while defending against a “terrorists invasion” in Kebbi State.
The post urges Nigerians to respect police officers, arguing that some officers become “orphans, widows and childless” while protecting citizens.
The claim circulated shortly after a deadly confrontation involving Nigerian police and armed men in Kebbi State on August 10, 2026.
The same or substantially similar photograph was subsequently used in posts and reports discussing the incident.
PM News Nigeria published an August 12 report titled “Kebbi govt to support families of 10 Police officers killed in terror attack,” using an image of the bodies and security personnel.
The photograph was also shared by security analyst Zagazola Makama on X in connection with the incident. Zagazola Makama’s X post
The fact that the photograph was used by a media organisation or shared by a prominent security analyst, however, does not independently establish that it was taken at the scene of the August 10 attack.
Verification:
Findings by FactCheckAfrica show that the claim contains a true element but is presented with misleading context.
Reports from the Associated Press and some Nigerian media confirm that 10 Nigerian police officers were killed in Kebbi State on Monday, August 10, 2026. AP reported that the clash occurred in the Sakaba council area and that 10 police officers, two civilians and 17 armed men were killed, while two police officers were injured.
According to AP, the armed men were travelling on motorcycles and were intercepted near the border with Zamfara State before a gunbattle broke out.
PM News Nigeria separately reported that 17 suspected bandits and 10 police officers were killed in the gun battle and that the armed group had been moving from Zamfara toward Kebbi.
The Nigeria Police Force has also described the event as an attack by a large group of armed bandits. Its account said the incident occurred on August 10 at about 6:00 a.m. in Sakaba Local Government Area.
There is therefore strong evidence that 10 police officers died in a serious armed confrontation in Kebbi.
What About the Image?
The photograph attached to the viral claim shows several uniformed security personnel, military-style vehicles and numerous bodies covered in black bags lying along a dusty road.
The photograph has subsequently appeared in reports and social-media posts about the deaths of the 10 police officers, including the PM News Nigeria report and a post by Zagazola Makama.
However, being published or shared alongside a report does not establish the photograph’s original provenance.
FactCheckAfrica searched contemporaneous reporting of the August 10 Kebbi incident but could not independently match the photograph to the reported scene.
The image should therefore not be presented as verified photographic evidence of the attack simply because it accompanied reports about the incident.
AI-Image Detection Results
As an additional part of the image verification, the photograph was submitted to several publicly available AI-image detection services. The screenshots supplied for examination show the following results:
Sightengine: The service displayed “Likely AI-generated” and gave the image a 99% GenAI score. Its breakdown attributed probability across several generative-image categories, including Stable Diffusion, Wan, GPT, Imagen/Nano Banana, Flux, Recraft and other models. The service recorded 0% face manipulation.
DeepAI: The AI Image Detector displayed “This image is likely created by AI”, with an AI likelihood of 91%, high confidence, and a classification of “Fake.” The detector itself cautions that its result is probabilistic and can be influenced by heavily rendered digital art, airbrushing and AI-based editing tools.
ImageWhisperer: The service displayed an “AI-Generated” verdict. However, its detailed forensic assessment provides an important qualification. It states that its core AI-generation models did not clearly classify the image as AI-generated, while several forensic detectors identified possible editing signals. The assessment cited indicators including suspected forensic traces, edit localisation and perspective inconsistencies around the casualty region. It also reported no camera metadata or web history from the version examined.
This mixed result is significant.
The automated tools do not provide identical findings, and an AI detector’s percentage should not be interpreted as a definitive probability that an image was generated by AI. Such systems can produce false positives, particularly when photographs have been compressed, resized, edited, enhanced or passed through social-media platforms.
Nevertheless, the fact that multiple independent detection services raised substantial concerns about the image’s authenticity or manipulation adds weight to the conclusion that the photograph should not be treated as verified documentary evidence.
Conclusion:
The claim that 10 Nigerian police officers were killed in an armed confrontation in Kebbi State is true. But the attached image in connection with the incident cannot be independently established as a photograph was taken during the August 10 attack.
