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Gunmen have abducted over 300 pupils and educators in what appears to be the biggest collective seizures in recent Nigerian history, as reported by a religious organization on Saturday.

Growing Crisis in School Institutions

The Friday morning assault on St Mary's co-educational school in western Nigeria occurred just a short time after armed men stormed a high school in neighboring Kebbi state, taking 25 girls.

Earlier accounts had stated 227 individuals were seized, but updated figures emerged after a detailed assessment established that 303 students and 12 teachers had been abducted.

The taken children, ranging between eight and 18 years, constitute nearly 50 percent of the school's total student body of 629.

Official Response and Security Measures

Local officials have confirmed that intelligence departments and law enforcement are presently performing a thorough assessment to establish the exact number of missing individuals.

In reaction to the growing security concerns, the state government has directed the closure of all schools in the state, with nearby states adopting similar precautionary measures.

Furthermore, the federal education department has ordered the provisional closure of 47 residential high schools across the country.

President Bola Tinubu has cancelled international commitments, including participation at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to focus on handling the situation.

Recent Violent Incidents

The school kidnappings represent the most recent in a sequence of security incidents that have shaken the nation, including an assault on a church in the west of Nigeria where assailants killed two people and seized many worshipers during a online broadcast service.

These events have taken place against the background of international attention on Nigeria's safety situation.

Past Context

Nigeria continues to be scarred by the memory of the mass kidnapping of nearly 300 female students by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a decade ago, with several of those girls still missing.

Firsthand Accounts

In a concerning recording circulated by religious groups, a distraught school staff member recounted hearing the sounds of bikes and cars before hearing "forceful banging" on multiple entrances of the school premises.

"Children were screaming," the staff member stated, describing her panic while looking for keys to the area where the crying was most intense.

The regional Catholic authority stated that the "assailants acted violently and without interruption for nearly three hours, searching sleeping quarters."

Citizen Reaction and Concerns

At the same time, about 600km away on the periphery of Abuja, worried parents were collecting their students from educational institutions following the shutdown directive.

One parent, a 40-year-old healthcare worker, voiced her disbelief at the magnitude of the kidnapping, questioning how 300 children could be taken at once.

She stated that the "authorities is not doing enough to curb insecurity," and voiced support for external assistance to "resolve this crisis."

Ongoing Safety Challenges

For a long time, well-equipped bandit groups have been conducting murders and kidnappings for ransom in rural areas of northwest and middle Nigeria, where government control is limited.

While nobody has taken credit for the latest incidents, criminal groups seeking ransom payments frequently attack schools in rural areas where protection is weak.

These gangs maintain bases in extensive forest areas straddling multiple states in western Nigeria.

While these bandits have no political motives and are mainly motivated by monetary profit, their increasing alliance with jihadist groups from the northeastern region has become a major source of worry for officials and experts alike.