Gunmen on Tuesday morning and night struck in three communities in Niger and Plateau states, killing 51 residents before fleeing unchallenged.
Bodies of 34 persons killed in Niger’s Nakuna and Wurukuchi communities were found in bushes and farms.
Fourteen of them were said to be members of two different families.
Seventeen others were killed in Ancha, Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State by the gunmen who also set many houses ablaze.
The attacks occurred shortly before reports emerged that many traders were kidnapped along the Birnin-Gwari-Kaduna Highway.
The attacks in Niger and Plateau were confirmed by Police Commissioner Monday Kuryas and Operation Safe Haven Commander Maj.-Gen. I. S. Ali. They did not dispute the figures.