Eighteen persons, including eight soldiers were reportedly killed on Monday night, in a raid on three commercials banks in Auchi, the administrative headquarters of Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the rampaging robbers used bombs and dynamites during the operation which lasted several hours; they shot freely at residents and carted away millions of Naira.

The robbery invasion which is the second in two years is coming 6 months after commercial banks in the locality shut down operations over similar attacks in which they lost millions of Naira.

At the time of filing in this report a corpse of a middle age okada rider, riddled with bullet was been carried to Auchi General Hospital.

The robbers, numbering over 50, came in three Camry cars and a bus.