Nigerian police have arrested a 33-member gang over an attack in which 38 people were abducted from a church in Kwara state, police said.

A Nigerian Christian group on Monday disputed an assertion by the army that it had rescued 31 people who were abducted by armed men in Kaduna.

Gunmen killed three people and abducted a Catholic priest and several others during an early morning attack on the clergyman's residence.

All 166 worshippers kidnapped during attacks on two churches in Kurmin Wali in northern Nigeria's Kaduna state have been released, CAN said.

The Nigerian army said on Tuesday it had rescued 11 kidnapping victims during a late-night operation along the Kaduna–Abuja highway.

Gunmen who abducted more than 150 church worshippers in Nigeria's conflict-hit north-west are demanding 17 motorcycles as ransom.

Afiniki Moses thought her ordeal was over when armed abductors released her on 15th January after her family paid a ransom.