Nineteen people were killed at the weekend when armed men raided two villages in northwest Nigeria’s Kaduna State, the government said, in the latest violence to hit the region, Punch reports.

“Kaduna State Government has received reports from security agencies of the killing of 19 citizens in Birnin Gwari and Kajuru local government areas,” Samuel Aruwan, internal affairs commissioner said in a statement.

“The citizens were killed by armed bandits at Kutemeshi village in Birnin Gwari and Kujeni village in Kajuru, where several others were left with bullet wounds,” Aruwan said.

Late on Saturday, bandits riding on motorcycles reportedly killed 14 people and injured others when they invaded Kutemeshi where they looted shops, the official said.

On the same day, motorbike-riding gunmen also reportedly stormed Kujeni where they killed five people and burnt “several” houses, warehouses and a church, said Aruwan in the statement.

But Punch reports that the residents said 19 people were killed just in the raid in Kutemeshi.