Witnesses and a state official reported that shooters assaulted two churches in rural northwestern Nigeria on Sunday, killing three people, weeks after a similar attack in the West African nation left 40 attendees dead.

According to neighbors, the raid in the Kajuru region of Kaduna State targeted four villages, resulting in the kidnapping of an undetermined number of residents and the damage of homes before the attackers escaped.

It was initially unclear who was responsible for the attack on the churches in Kaduna. Kaduna is one of the worst-affected states in Nigeria, and security problems have plagued it. Last week, at least 32 people were slain in the Kajuru region during an attack that spanned four villages and lasted for hours.

On Sunday morning, worshippers were attending services at the Maranatha Baptist Church and the St. Moses Catholic Church in the Rubu district of Kaduna when "they (the attackers) just came and surrounded the churches," according to Usman Danladi, a resident.

"Before they (worshippers) realized it, they were already terrorizing them," Danladi added. "Some began attacking inside the church, while others moved on to other areas." He stated, "the majority of the abducted victims are Baptists, while the three killed were Catholics."

The Kaduna state administration reported three deaths at the hands of motorcycle-riding bandits who began in Ungwan Fada and moved through Ungwan Turawa, Ungwan Makama, and Rubu.

" As investigations continue, security patrols are being undertaken in the general region, according to Samuel Aruwan, Kaduna's security commissioner.

The Christian Association of Nigeria condemned the attacks on Sunday and stated that Nigerian churches had become "targets" of armed groups.

Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, the association's spokesman, told The Associated Press, "It is very unfortunate that a similar incident occurred in Kaduna while we are still in mourning for those who were killed in Owo two Sundays ago." It has turned into a recurring decimal.

Many attacks against rural areas in the volatile northern part of Nigeria are comparable. In locations where Nigeria's security forces are outnumbered and outgunned, the motorcycle-riding shooters arrive in the hundreds. Authorities have identified the assailants as predominantly young Fulani herders caught up in Nigeria's pastoral dispute between host towns and herders over restricted access to water and land. Typically, it takes months for the police to make arrests.