The series of attacks by armed bandits has taken place over the past 48 hours, with 18 people each killed and injured in the villages of Kaduna and Katsina. The attackers burned down houses and displaced the villagers.
Hundreds of people have been killed in northern Nigeria by criminal gangs who carried out robberies and kidnappings.
Such attacks have contributed to security challenges in Nigeria, which are struggling to curb Islamic uprisings in the northeast and common violence due to grazing rights in central states.
The latest attack comes less than a month after President Muhammadu Buhari replaced his longtime military chiefs amid worsening violence, while armed forces are fighting to recapture other northeastern towns overrun by insurgents.