Unidentified gunmen killed three people and injured two others in recent attacks in Nigeria's northwestern state of Kaduna, a government official said on Sunday.

Iran PressAfrica: In another attack on churches in rural northwestern Nigeria, gunmen on Sunday killed three people, witnesses and a state official said, weeks after a similar attack in the West African nation left 40 worshipers dead.

The attack in Kajuru area of Kaduna State targeted four villages, resulting in the abduction of an unspecified number of residents and the destruction of houses before the assailants managed to escape, Samuel Aruwan, the State's Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, said in a statement.

The bandits stormed villages on motorcycles.

Aruwan did not reveal the exact date when the attacks happened.

It wasn't immediately clear who was behind the attack on the Kaduna churches. Much of Nigeria has struggled with security issues, with Kaduna as one of the worst-hit states. At least 32 people were killed in the Kajuru area last week in an attack that lasted for hours across four villages.

According to the official, security patrols are conducted in the general area as investigations proceed.

Gunmen attacks have been frequently reported across the most populous country in Africa for years, resulting in deaths and kidnappings of civilians as well as security operatives. 

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