KADUNA, Nigeria 

Armed bandits attacked a village in northern Nigeria, kidnapping 30 people and killing one villager in the early hours of Friday, local media reported.

However, the Kaduna state government is yet to comment on the incident.

A resident from the village told BBC Hausa radio on Friday that the gunmen ambushed the Kungi village in Birnin Gwari local government of the northern state of Kaduna and carried out house-to-house search before kidnapping the people.

The resident said the bandits killed one person when he resisted the kidnap attempt, adding the victims included men, women and children, including three of his grandchildren.

“We are in a dire situation here in Birnin Gwari, but we submitted everything to Almighty God. The truth is that things are not well here,” he lamented.

Although, he added, there are security personnel in the village, their presence is not stopping gunmen from invading the village.

According to reports, Birnin Gwari is now full of internally displaced people, fleeing continuous attacks by bandits in neighboring villages.

On Thursday, Nigerian army deployed 300 women officers to the volatile Abuja-Kaduna highway to curb the menace of banditry and kidnapping along the road and other surrounding communities.

The military said the women combatants would complement the existing operations along the highway to stem the lawlessness in the West African country.