Sawt Falasteen - Over 30 killed, several kidnapped in Nigeria

The gangs swept into Kasuwan Daji village, in the Kabe district of the western Niger State on Saturday and set a market ablaze, before looting shops for food, they said.

"Over 30 victims lost their lives during the attack, some persons were also kidnapped," Wasiu Abiodun, Niger state police spokesman said.

President Bola Tinubu's office said the attackers may have been "terrorists" fleeing from parts of northwestern Nigeria followed Christmas Day airstrikes by the United States that targeted militants linked to the Islamic State group.

The attackers "will be caught and brought to justice", along with any who helped them, Tinubu vowed in a statement relayed by his media adviser Bayo Onanuga.

Images viewed by AFP showed some of those killed in the raid had their hands tied behind their backs.

Gangs -- known in Nigeria as "bandits" -- frequently carry out mass kidnappings for ransom and loot villages in parts of Nigeria.

Niger state has been one of the hardest hit in recent months.

In November, armed gangs seized more than 250 students and staff from a Catholic school in the state.

Authorities announced their release in two batches weeks later, without saying whether a ransom was paid.

The latest attack took place less than 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Papiri village where the students and teachers were snatched from their school.

The local church for the area put the death toll from Saturday's raid at more than 40, higher than the figure given by police.

"Reports indicate the bandits operated for hours with no security presence," the Catholic Church in Kontagora said on its Facebook page.

- Multiple security threats -

Nigeria's security forces are stretched thin by challenges in different parts of the country.

Africa's most populous country faces multiple conflicts -- linked to a long-running jihadist insurgency, bandits, farmer-herder violence or southeastern separatists -- that have killed both Christians and Muslims.

On Christmas Eve, a suspected suicide bomber killed at least five people in an attack on a mosque in northeastern Borno state.

Washington has in recent months criticised the country's failure to rein in the violence that US President Donald Trump insists amounts to "persecution" of Christians -- a framing long used by the religious right in America.

Despite the Nigerian government and independent analysts rejecting the accusations, the US launched its surprise Christmas day airstrikes on militants linked to the Islamic State group.

Abuja later said it approved the hits.

Tinubu in December vowed a national security revamp and has ramped up defence spending in the 2026 budget. In early December, he replaced his defence minister, naming a former top military commander to the role.

S.AbuJamous--SF-PST