On Saturday, the Punch newspaper reported that 17 people had been killed in Nigeria in an attack it said had been carried out by armed herders.
"So far we are talking about 56 lives lost in just one night. This is quite devastating," Alia said, as quoted by the News Agency of Nigeria.
The attack on the night from Thursday to Friday prompted the deployment of security forces. The governor blamed the attack on an ethnic group of herders, motivated by religious reasons. The death toll could rise as search operations continue.
On Monday, the Daily Post reported that about 50 people had been killed in an armed attack by unknown assailants on two villages in Nigeria's Plateau state.