Locals told that armed men on motorcycles stormed villages in Zamfara state.
The residents were kidnapped after the villages failed to pay a “tax” imposed on them by the gunmen, witnesses said.
In recent years, kidnapping for ransom has become rife in north-western Nigeria.
Armed gangs, referred to locally as bandits, target villages, schools, and travellers, demanding millions of naira in ransom.
They said Damana controls most of the region in the absence of state security forces.
“The terrorists are in control of the area – they send us to the forest to work as agricultural labourers, and when we come back they come into the town to eat meat, tea and bottled goods without paying,” one villager complained.
Nigeria faces multiple security challenges: the jihadist insurgency in the north, deadly clashes between animal herders and farmers, a separatist insurgency in the southeast as well as militants in the Niger Delta demanding a greater share of oil profits.
President Bola Tinubu, who took office in May, has yet to detail how he will tackle the insecurity. During his election campaign, Mr Tinubu’s office acknowledged the challenge, touting his experience as governor of north-eastern Borno state, home to many Islamist militant groups and the Boko Haram insurgency.