Armed men kill at least 30 in north Nigeria villages

Armed men killed 30 people in weekend raids on six villages in Nigeria’s north, a region regularly hit by criminal violence and clashes between communities, local police have said.

Armed men killed 30 people in weekend raids on six villages in Nigeria's north, a region regularly hit by criminal violence and clashes between communities, local police have said.

The bloodshed is the latest outbreak of inter-communal violence which the country's newly sworn-in President has said will be a priority to combat.

Attackers on motorcycles "killed eight people in Raka, seven in Bilingawa, six in Jaba, four in Dabagi, three in Raka Dutse and two in Tsalewa villages," Ahmad Rufai, Sokoto police spokesman said in a statement received Monday.

The bandits burnt two cars and six thatched huts in the attacks, he said

However, residents from two of the affected villages said 36 people were killed in the attacks which they said were reprisals for their refusal to pay protection money to the bandits.

"They (bandits) were enraged by our refusal to negotiate with them and pay them protection money as other villages have done. That was why they attacked our villages," said Kasimu Musa, a subsistence farmer.

Musa, a resident of Raka Dutse, told AFP the communities "buried 36 people yesterday (Sunday) who were killed by the bandits".