In a midnight raid, bandits attacked Kemanji village in the Kaiama council area of Kwara, killing at least five soldiers.

Community sources told the Peoples Gazette on Monday that the attack began around 3:00 a.m. and lasted for about two hours.

“Bandits invaded Kemanji this morning around 3:00 a.m. Our security agents, the army and local vigilantes engaged them in an intense gun battle that lasted until 5:00 a.m.m.,” a source told The Gazette.

“They killed a few of our soldiers. We still can’t say how extremely disastrous the attack was.”

Another source added, “We just heard gunshots around 3:00 a.m. We locked our door and stayed inside, so the attack lasted till 5am this morning. From the gunshot, we could tell that there was an attack, but we didn’t fully know the intensity of the attack.

“When dawn broke, we discovered that over five soldiers were killed and several others were injured in the attack. The bandits left with the army men’s vehicles and motorcycles.”

The Nigerian Army’s spokesman, Onyechi Anele, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.