KANO, Nigeria — Dozens of gunmen on motorbikes have killed more than 100 villagers in an ongoing conflict over land in northern Nigeria, survivors said Thursday.
The attacks, which began Tuesday night, left scores of people fleeing on foot from the four targeted villages about 110 miles south of Katsina.
People were burying victims in the village of Marabar Kindo when the attackers returned Thursday and gunned down seven more people, resident Adamu Inuwa said.
Kabiru Ismail, a resident of the village of Maigora, said he had helped bury more than 40 people Thursday. By late afternoon, he said, he had counted 103 bodies in three of the four villages that were attacked.
Maigora’s chief imam said two police officers responding to calls for help were among the dead. He also said two of the attackers wore military uniforms.
For months, farmers in the area have been terrorized by nomadic Fulani herders. Both groups are Muslim. Most Fulani-related violence is concentrated around central Plateau state, where Muslim herders are pitted against Christian farmers. Thousands have been killed in recent years.
Such conflicts — a mix of tribal and religious animosity aggravated by growing rivalries over land — are unrelated to an Islamist uprising in the northeast of Nigeria, where militants have killed thousands of civilians.
Villagers attacked this week noted that in past raids in Katsina state the herders stole their belongings, especially cattle and sheep.
‘‘This time they just killed people,’’ Ismail said. ‘‘It’s as if their mission is to wipe out entire villages.’’