At least 18 people have been killed by gunmen in the north-western Nigerian state of Katsina, the police say.

The attack on Monday night happened in the village of Tsauwa in Batsari area of the state.

Residents told the BBC the gunmen stormed the remote village on motorbikes shooting people dead as well as torching houses and food silos. They fled after the killings.

Witnesses say 14 bodies were recovered immediately after the attack. The other victims later died in a hospital.

The police commissioner in Katsina state, Sanusi Buba, told the BBC that all the dead have been buried while one wounded person was being treated in a hospital.

Both residents and the authorities say it appears the gunmen targeted the village in retaliation for the killings of three members of their gang on Friday – during clashes with a combined team of police and vigilantes when the gang attempted to kidnap people in the community.

The region is facing increasing attacks by armed criminal gangs who carry out killings as well as kidnappings for ransom.

The attack in Katsina is coming as security forces are trying to locate 150 students abducted from a boarding secondary school and at least eight people seized from a hospital in neighbouring Kaduna state.