Gunmen on motorbikes in northwest Nigeria's Katsina state have killed at least 69 people in attacks on four villages, a political official says.
The state's police chief, Hurdi Mohammed, who gave a lower toll of 30 dead, told AFP news agency on Thursday the violence was perpetrated by ethnic Fulani herdsmen who have been blamed for scores of deadly raids.
"So far, 69 bodies have been recovered from the attacks carried out by a large group of gunmen riding on motorcycles," said Katsina lawmaker Abbas Abdullahi Michika of the violence which first broke out late on Tuesday.
"The victims include men, women and children. Rescue teams are still combing nearby bushes in search for more bodies."
He specified that 47 people were killed in the village of Mararrabar Maigora while seven deaths were recorded in both Kura Mota and Unguwar Rimi.
Another eight people were killed in Maigora, according to Michika.
Fulani leaders have for years complained about the loss of grazing land crucial to their livelihood, with resentment between the herdsmen and their agrarian neighbours rising over the past decade.
Most of the Fulani-linked violence has been concentrated in the religiously divided centre of the country, where rivalries between mostly Muslim herdsmen and mostly Christian farmers have helped fuel the unrest.
