Armed attackers ambushed a vehicle returning from a weekly market in the Bokkos area of central Nigeria, killing 14 passengers including women and infants, a local community leader said on Friday.

The attack occurred at about noon on Thursday as the vehicle was carrying people back from the popular Bokkos market in Plateau state.

Farmasum Fuddang, chair of the Bokkos cultural development forum, said the attackers had intercepted the vehicle and then opened fire.

"Victims included women and little babies," Fuddang said in a statement.

The Bokkos area is known as a major hub for potato farming in Nigeria. The town's Monday and Thursday markets host traders from as far away as Chad, Benin, Niger and Cameroon

The latest killings follow calls for a stronger security presence in rural Plateau. Plateau police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.