At least 20 people were killed in Nigeria's Sokoto state when gunmen attacked a market and torched cars, according to Reuters citing a state official and local member of parliament.

"The bandits in large numbers killed at least 20 people that we have seen and counted and set nine vehicles on fire," Idriss Gobir, special adviser to the Sokoto police affairs minister, told Reuters. Hussain Boza, a local member of parliament in Sokoto, blamed the attack on a lack of adequate security in the state.

A local police spokesperson confirmed the attack but could not immediately say how many people had been killed. 

(With input from Reuters)