Armed "bandits" killed at least 50 people in villages in Nigeria's northern Kaduna State on Sunday, according to local police and residents.
"The figure is not conclusive and is very likely to rise as rescue efforts are still under way," Zayyad Ibrahim, a member of Nigerian parliament told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Monday.
Bandits began shooting at random, as worshipers left mosques after prayer, Ibrahim said, adding that the wounded were transported to two area hospitals.
Dayyabu Kerawa, a local counselor, said the attacks were in retaliation for ongoing military operations against bandits in the area. The assailants “accused the residents of the targeted villages of providing information about their hiding places to the soldiers," he said.
According to local police, about 100 armed men attacked the villages of Kerawa, Rago, Zareyawa, Marina, Hashimawa, and Unguwar Barau, all in the Igabi district, shooting residents, and looting and burning homes.
Last month 21 people, 16 of them belonging to one family, were killed in killed in similar attacks on the village of Bakali in the neighboring Giwa district.