ANALYSIS: From Maga to Makuku, armed groups are redrawing Kebbi’s security map

Ten police officers and two civilians died Monday in a fierce battle with a large armed group in Makuku, Sakaba Local Government Area of Kebbi State. The police headquarters later confirmed a vigilante also perished in the fighting.

Authorities reported that officers intercepted a heavily armed group around 9:25 a.m. as it moved between Zamfara and Kebbi states. Police spokesperson Bashir Usman stated that at least 17 suspected bandits were killed and four motorcycles destroyed, with two officers injured. He cautioned that casualty assessments were ongoing as security forces pursued fleeing group members.

A separate police account detailed that more than 200 armed men on motorcycles attacked a security camp in Makuku around 6 a.m. Reinforcements, supported by the army and air force, engaged the attackers for over two hours. The police headquarters’ account included one vigilante among the deceased, alongside the 10 officers and two civilians, and estimated at least 17 attackers were killed. Usman later clarified both accounts referred to the same attack, explaining the attackers approached Makuku from different directions in an apparent attempt to surround the community and its security camp.

This Makuku incident is not an isolated event. In November 2025, armed men abducted 25 schoolgirls from Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Danko/Wasagu LGA, killing the vice-principal. This attack exposed security weaknesses and led to wider school closures. Kebbi ordered temporary closures of secondary and tertiary institutions due to insecurity, and the federal government closed 47 Unity Colleges. Controversy arose when Governor Nasir Idris claimed soldiers deployed near the Maga school withdrew shortly before the attack, despite prior intelligence. The Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, stated the army was investigating the withdrawal circumstances.

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the camp is located just as you enter the village.