Nigeria’s military says it foiled an arson attack on a public primary school in Maiduguri, killing three suspected members of the Boko Haram sect who were caught in the act.

Military spokesman Lt. Colonel Hassan Ifijeh Mohammed confirmed the killings on Monday, the Associated Press reports, adding that his men had killed three members of the sect as well as arresting two others who were arrested.

The failed arson attempt is the latest in a series of school burnings attributed to the Boko Haram sect.

Seven schools in th region have been set ablaze in recent weeks in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital and heartland of the sect. The attacks have often happened at night.

Gunshots were heard in the early hours of Monday morning in the city, the AP reported.

The attacks on schools by the Boko Haram, whose name in Hausa language means “Western education is prohibited, has kept many pupils out of schools in Maiduguri.

Teachers of affected schools who spoke to the press say parents are keeping their children at home and out of school.