Motorcycle-riding gunmen swept into three villages in a central region of Nigeria, shooting dead or cutting the throats of at least 46 people, a humanitarian source told AFP on Saturday.

The violence again threw the spotlight on Nigeria’s efforts to contain security threats -- efforts that have been strongly criticised by US president Donald Trump.

A security report seen by AFP said the attackers had used “41 motorcycles, each carrying two or three men”.

The three villages targeted by the gunmen are part of the Borgu local government area in Niger State, on the border with Kwara State, where jihadists killed more than 160 people in an attack earlier this month.

The bloodiest attack happened in the village of Konkoso, where at least 38 people were shot dead or had their throats slit, the humanitarian source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Most of the homes in the village were burned down and apart from those already counted as dead, “other bodies are being recovered,” the source said.

A resident of Konkoso told AFP the gunmen had first attacked the nearby village of Tungar Makeri before heading to his village.

A spokesman for Niger State police told AFP that six people had been killed in Tungan Makeri when the gunmen overran the village at around 6:00 am.

“Some houses were set on fire and an as-yet undetermined number of people were abducted,” and officers were seeking information about the attacks on the other two villages, the police spokesman.

The Konkoso resident said his nephew was among those killed in Konkoso.