KANO, Nigeria (AFP)—Gunmen have killed at least 60 people across several remote villages in northwest Nigeria this week, local clergy and humanitarian groups said Wednesday, as the country battles a surge in insecurity in its mostly Muslim north.

The attacks, spanning two neighbouring states of Kebbi and Niger, have hit at least 10 villages, according to clergymen and a humanitarian report seen by AFP.

According to a situation report citing three local humanitarian sources, including a health facility and a community organising group, 20 deaths were recorded in a Tuesday attack in Erena, in Shiroro local government area of Niger state.

A separate military security report said the attackers were “bandits” with “sophisticated arms” who “invaded (a) military camp”.

Police confirmed the Shiroro attack, adding “two vigilante members and a driver from the joint security team” were killed.

Shiroro district has persistently been terrorised by local criminal groups known as “bandits” and by jihadists.

The two are increasingly forging alliances, raiding and displacing communities.

In neighbouring Kebbi, a clergy member said he could confirm that 24 had been killed “but from the reports we are getting today there are more than 40 killed”.

Another Christian leader also gave a toll of around 40.

“They killed everybody in sight, they killed Christians, Muslims and traditional worshippers,” said the first clergy, asking not to be named for security reasons.

“They killed indiscriminately,” he said, adding they burnt churches, houses of Muslims, sheep and cattle, as well as food barns.

He said the attackers had been rampaging through the area “for the last three days”.

They comb the surrounding bushes where villagers would ordinarily hide during attacks “and hunt around for those who were hiding in the bush and shoot them down”, the clergyman said.

“They were not leaving anything, they were not taking anything. They were to kill and destroy.”

At least 500 people have fled and are being sheltered in churches and schools in Yauri town in Kebbi state.

“People can’t even go back to bury their dead,” he said.

No group has immediately claimed responsibility, but police blamed a local jihadist group known as Mahmuda for the attacks in Kebbi.

Mahmuda group, active in northwest Nigeria, is affiliated with Mahmud al-Nigeri, a senior official in the Ansaru jihadist group.

Ansaru broke away from the Boko Haram militant group and has since allied itself with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQMI).

Kebbi state sits on Nigeria’s border with Benin and Niger and since 2025 has been targeted by a rising number of jihadist attacks.

Conflict monitor ACLED says there has been a surge in violence in the area carried out by groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.

Like other states in northern Nigeria, it faces both jihadist attacks and bandits, who attack villages and take hostages for ransom.