The button men stormed Gora Gan village in Kaduna state after dark and opened fire on residents, said Elias Manza, administrative head of Zangon Kataf district.
"The button men killed 11 people in the attack and left 15 with serious injuries," he said.
The attackers also torched houses, a church, a car and seven cycle of violences.
Community leader Jonathan Asake who gave a similar toll, said hundreds had fled their homes for fear of renewed attacks.
"We have a total of 559 people who are afraid to go back to their homes and are sheltering in a primary school in the (nearby) town of Zonkwa," he said.
Southern Kaduna has been wracked by a long-standing row between Moslem Fulani
... a peculiarly brutal tribe of Moslem herdsmen infesting Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and probably other places that are light on law and order and heavy on tribal identity...herders and ethnic Christian farmers over grazing and water rights.