Nigerian police on Thursday confirmed a total of 11 people were killed following a thwarted attack on a local bank in the country’s central region.

Six among the suspected bank robbers were killed by the police who engaged them in a gunfight and prevented the armed group from gaining access into the financial institution at the Kagara area of Niger State on Wednesday, the police authorities said.

Five others, including a policeman, a private security guard, a local vigilante, and two civilians, were caught in the crossfire, according to Adamu Usman, the state’s police chief.

The gunmen who stormed the bank’s location on four motorcycles were forced to abandon them as they fled following the intense gunfight with the police, Usman told the media.

Meanwhile, the police have commenced investigations into the incident