President Yahya Jammeh has appointed a Nigerian man as Gambia's top judge after sacking the only woman to have held the post, his office said on Thursday.

Emmanuel Fagbenle takes the role of "acting chief justice", according to a presidential statement, after Ghanaian-born Mabel Yamoa Agyemang was "relieved of her appointment" without explanation on Monday.

At least 22 people were killed in a raid in restive central Nigeria on Thursday, locals said, in the second such attack in the area this week.

Gunmen opened fire in the predominantly Muslim village of Mavo in the Wase local government area of Plateau state at about 2:00 am (0100 GMT) in an apparent warning, witnesses said.

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday called on his new military top brass not to disappoint the nation in their task to crush the Boko Haram insurgency.

He told the officers in Abuja that "the war against terror must be won in this country" and that he was convinced the government had selected "the right team to salvage this country at this time".

Nigeria's military on Tuesday said that a call by the country's top military officer for a swift end to the Boko Haram insurgency had been "taken too literally".

Air Marshal Alex Badeh was appointed chief of defense staff last month and on January 20 said: "The security situation in the northeast must be brought to a complete stop before April 2014."

Gunmen killed about 30 people in an early morning raid on two villages in central Nigeria, witnesses said on Tuesday, in the latest violence to hit the region.

The police in Plateau state, which has been hit by repeated communal violence, confirmed the attack but could not provide details of casualties.

Nigeria's Boko Haram was suspected Sunday of killing a Muslim cleric who had criticized the Islamic extremist group, and of shooting dead a Christian preacher, in the latest violence to hit northern Nigeria.

The deaths came after seven people were killed by a roadside bomb in a border area of the remote northeast, which has seen mounting militant activity in recent months, and heavy casualties last weekend.

Eleven lawmakers from Nigeria's ruling party on Wednesday gave formal notice of their intention to defect to the main opposition, in a fresh blow to President Goodluck Jonathan.

The members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) -- all of them senators in the upper chamber of parliament -- announced their decision in a letter to the Senate leader, David Mark.

The number of people killed in a deadly market attack blamed on Boko Haram militants in northeast Nigeria has risen to 52, police told Agence France Presse on Tuesday.

"From the verified figures I have in my records, 52 people have been confirmed killed in the attack," Borno state police commissioner Lawan Tanko told AFP.

At least 45 people were killed in a suspected Boko Haram attack on a market in restive northeast Nigeria, police said on Monday, warning the death toll could rise.

"So far, we have 45 dead and 26 injured... but the figures could increase as our men are still in the village searching for more casualties," Borno state police commissioner Lawan Tanko told Agence France Presse.

Gunmen have killed a Chinese construction worker and wounded two others in a border town in Nigeria's northern Kaduna state, police said Monday.

"The incident happened on Saturday at a border town between Kaduna and Plateau states," Kaduna state police spokesman Aminu Lawan told Agence France Presse.