There were tears and heavy emotions in Abuja on Monday as the Nigeria Police Force honoured 10 officers who paid the ultimate price while battling suspected bandits in Kebbi State.
Families, colleagues and senior police officers gathered at the Force Headquarters for a memorial parade held in memory of the fallen personnel of the Special Intervention Squad (SIS), who were killed during the bloody encounter on August 10.
The officers died along the Rafin Makuku axis of Sakaba Local Government Area while confronting a heavily armed group of suspected bandits moving between Zamfara and Kebbi states.
The police had earlier confirmed that two other officers were wounded and two civilians also died in the clash.
The encounter reportedly inflicted heavy casualties on the attackers, with the police initially putting the number of suspected bandits neutralised at 17 and four motorcycles belonging to them destroyed.
The Force later said additional bodies believed to belong to the attackers were recovered from the surrounding forest.
Speaking at Monday’s memorial, Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, described the fallen officers as heroes who died while fulfilling their constitutional duty to protect lives and property.
Disu assured the bereaved families that the Force would not abandon them, stressing that the sacrifice of their loved ones would remain remembered.
He said the deaths were a painful reminder that police officers across the country routinely put their lives at risk so that Nigerians can live and work in relative safety.
The police chief also sent a strong message to terrorists and bandits, declaring that the Force would not be intimidated by violent criminals.
According to him, the police would continue working with the military, other security agencies, state governments and local communities to confront banditry, terrorism and other forms of violent crime.
He vowed that the Force would pursue those responsible for attacks on its personnel and innocent Nigerians and ensure that the sacrifices of the fallen officers were not in vain.
The emotional ceremony came about two weeks after the Kebbi operation, which has been described by the police as one of the deadliest recent encounters involving its personnel.
Earlier reports from the Force indicated that the attackers were heavily armed and that the confrontation lasted long enough to inflict casualties on both sides.
The police subsequently reinforced the affected area and launched further operations against fleeing members of the criminal group.
Also speaking at the memorial, Commissioner of Police in charge of the SIS, Abayomi Shogunle, made an emotional appeal to the IGP to ensure that the families of the deceased officers receive adequate support.
Shogunle praised the fallen personnel for standing their ground despite coming under fierce attack, saying their conduct demonstrated the courage expected of members of the elite squad.
He claimed that subsequent battle-damage assessments suggested that the attackers suffered far greater losses than initially recorded, with villagers reportedly alerting the police after spotting vultures around areas where bodies of suspected terrorists were believed to have been left.
Shogunle said reports from communities as late as August 19 indicated that more bodies of the attackers were still being discovered and that police teams had been called in to recover them.
He urged the police leadership to make the welfare of the fallen officers’ families a priority, arguing that proper support would also boost the morale of personnel still risking their lives in the field.
The commissioner described the SIS as a highly trained and motivated unit and said maintaining the spirit of its fallen members was crucial to sustaining the confidence and fighting morale of serving officers.
For the families who gathered in Abuja, however, the parade was more than a formal police ceremony.
It was a painful reminder of husbands, fathers, sons and brothers who left home for duty but never returned.
The Nigeria Police Force had earlier confirmed that all 10 officers died during the August 10 encounter and described their loss as a major sacrifice in the fight against violent crime in the country.
