An armed gang on motorbikes killed at least 30 people in attacks on two villages in the Nigerian state Katsina, police said.
Twenty-one people were burnt to death and nine villagers shot dead on Friday in Dankar and Tsauwa as assailants made off with food and livestock, police said.
Hundreds of people have been killed in north-west Nigeria since last year, in attacks government attributes to bandits – a loose term for gangs robbing and kidnapping.
Police commissioner Sanusi Buba confirmed the death toll and said police and military teams deployed, adding t an investigation was underway.
Security experts say Nigeria can ill afford more instability as it struggles to contain Islamist insurgencies in the north-east, conflict in central states and militant groups in the Niger Delta.
The death toll from violence continues to rise in Nigeria, along with kidnapping and robbery.
Suspected Boko Haram Islamists killed at least 30 people on February 9 in Borno state.