A cattle rustling gang has killed 66 people in raids on seven towns in northwestern Nigeria, police said Saturday.

“We have established that 66 people were killed in the attacks,” which occurred on Thursday when dozens of men on motorcycles attacked communities in the Danko Wasagu district, said Nafiu Abubakar, a spokesman for the Kebbi state police.

“The investigation is still ongoing to determine the extent of the destruction caused by the bandits and to search for more bodies,” it added.

Police moved to the area to prevent further attacks, while residents of the affected communities fled their homes, Abubakar said.

In April, nine policemen were killed in that area in a shootout with gunmen who invaded a village in the neighboring Sakaba district to steal cattle.

Cattle rustling criminal gangs operate in northwestern and central Nigeria, attacking villages and killing and kidnapping villagers for ransom after looting and burning houses.

The gangs are not acting for political reasons, but authorities fear they are being infiltrated by jihadists from northeastern Nigeria, where they have been in an insurgency for 12 years seeking to establish an Islamic state.