According to a report by The Nation Nigeria on Sunday, May 17, 2026, Seventeen police trainees have been killed in northeastern Nigeria following an attack by suspected Islamist militants on a specialised military training facility in Yobe State, authorities confirmed on Saturday.
The incident occurred on Friday at the Nigerian Army Special Forces School in Buni Yadi, a facility that also provides advanced operational training for police officers. According to police spokesperson Anthony Okon Placid, the attackers struck the base in a coordinated assault involving multiple entry points.
“The officers, who were undergoing specialised operational training at the institution, lost their lives when the militants launched a coordinated attack on the facility from multiple directions,” Placid said in a statement.
He added that several soldiers were also killed in the assault, although an exact number of military casualties has not yet been confirmed. The Nigerian military has not issued an official response regarding the incident.
Nigeria has faced a prolonged Islamist insurgency in its northeast since 2009, beginning with the Boko Haram uprising. Over time, the conflict has splintered into factions, including the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which has intensified attacks on security installations and personnel in the region.
In a related development, U.S. President Donald Trump and Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced that a senior ISWAP commander, Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, was killed in a joint U.S.-Nigerian operation in the Lake Chad Basin. The operation reportedly targeted a high-level militant network linked to coordinated attacks across the region.
Authorities say Nigeria has expanded specialised military and counterterrorism training institutions in response to persistent threats, including the facility targeted in Buni Yadi. These institutions are intended to strengthen the capacity of security forces engaged in ongoing counterinsurgency operations….See More
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