Police in Zamfara state, working alongside local civil security units, said they had launched "clearance operations" this week after bandits attempted to attack the town of Bukkuyum.

"Following the engagement, more than 30 bodies believed to be those of neutralised bandits were reportedly discovered in surrounding farmlands," they said in a statement.

Mawwali Wali, a traditional leader in Bukkuyum, confirmed the operation to AFP and said that the number killed totalled "more than 40 dead bandits" from two separate clashes.

On the government side, "a vigilante was killed and another one injured", he told AFP by telephone.

Northern Nigeria, particularly the northwest, has for years been plagued by criminal gangs locally known as "bandits".

They specialise in kidnapping for ransom and cattle rustling, routinely raiding villages and carrying out killings.

In mid-October, in the Bukkuyum district, bandits killed 13 people, including eight soldiers and a police officer, after ambushing a convoy of traders travelling to a local market.