The pre-dawn attack on Tara village is the latest in a series of attacks by criminal gangs known locally as "bandits" who for years have terrorised communities. The attackers also stole 100 cows.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari ordered a "massive" deployment of military and intelligence assets to restore normalcy to Nigeria's northwest, National Security Adviser Babagana Monguno said.
A spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres confirmed only that there was a "security incident", but gave no further details.
The West African country has seen several mass kidnappings over the years carried out either by bandits or militants, with the latest incidents sparking worries that no school is safe.
A group of gunmen kidnapped 317 girls from their boarding school in in the town of Jangebe, in Nigeria's Zamfara state last week.
"The abducted students and staff have regained their freedom and have been received by the Niger state government," Governor Abubakar Sani Bello says.
Nigerian police and a local official said that a suspected criminal gang attacked the Government Girls Science Secondary School in Jangebe, a village in Zamfara state, kidnapping at least 300 schoolgirls.
Nigerian internal security commissioner says armed men stormed into several villages in Kaduna state, gunning down at least 18 locals, burning homes and stealing livestock.
Local militia and residents say Boko Haram militants killed 10 people and injured 21 others with mortar shells in the volatile city.
A gang last week took 53 people hostage, including nine children, from a state-owned bus in Niger’s Kundu village.
All seven personnel on board died after the plane crashed due to engine failure near Abuja airport, air force spokesman Ibikunle Daramole said.
Nigeria’s president said he has dispatched security chiefs to coordinate a rescue operation for the students taken by the unidentified gunmen in Niger state.
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