Boko Haram jihadists have kidnapped 37 women and slit the throats of nine other people at a village in southeastern Niger, the regional governor said yesterday.

The attack happened on Sunday at the village of Ngalewa, near the border with Nigeria, the governor of Diffa region, Laouali Mahamane Dan Dano, told state TV.

"The defence and security forces are already in pursuit, and we hope that in the coming days these women will be found and freed," he said.

The governor, who went to Ngalewa on Monday, said the village had been singled out because it was known for its resistance to the jihadists. The assailants came by foot for greater stealth, he said.

In April 2014, Islamist militants seized 276 schoolgirls from the remote northeast Nigerian town of Chibok, triggering global condemnation and drawing attention to the bloody Boko Haram insurgency.