Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu has deployed an army battalion to Kaiama district in the central Kwara state after suspected jihadist fighters killed 170 people in an overnight attack, his office said on Thursday.

Tuesday's assault on Woro village was the deadliest this year in the state bordering Niger, a hotspot where Islamic State West Africa Province and other armed groups have stepped up village attacks and mass kidnappings.

The violence highlights fears that jihadist factions from the north are pushing south along the Niger-Kwara axis toward the Kainji forest, which security analysts warn could become their next stronghold.

Nigeria has come under scrutiny after US President Donald Trump accused it last year of failing to protect Christians amid Islamist attacks and mass kidnappings. US forces struck what they described as terrorist targets on December 25. 

Abuja says it is working with Washington to improve security and denies any systematic persecution of Christians.    

Tinubu said the new military unit would stem further attacks and protect remote communities. He condemned the attack as "cowardly and barbaric," saying the gunmen targeted villagers who had rejected attempts to impose extremist rule. 

"It is commendable that community members, even though Muslims, refused to be conscripted into a belief that promotes violence over peace," Tinubu said in a statement.

Residents told Reuters the attackers were jihadists who had long preached in the village, urging locals to abandon the Nigerian state and adopt Sharia rule. When villagers refused, the militants opened fire.

About 38 houses were destroyed, said Saidu Baba Ahmed, a lawmaker representing the district at the state assembly.

In a separate attack in northern Katsina state on Tuesday, gunmen killed at least 21 people, moving from house to house to shoot their victims, residents and local police said.