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Gunmen have seized in excess of 300 pupils and educators in one of the most significant group abductions in modern Nigerian experience, as stated by a religious organization on the weekend.

Escalating Crisis in School Facilities

The early Friday attack on St Mary's mixed-gender school in western Nigeria occurred just a short time after armed men stormed a secondary school in neighboring Kebbi state, seizing 25 young women.

Earlier reports had suggested 227 individuals were taken, but new numbers emerged after a comprehensive assessment confirmed that 303 students and 12 instructors had been kidnapped.

The taken students, ranging between eight and 18 years, represent nearly half of the school's overall student body of 629.

Government Reaction and Security Measures

State authorities have confirmed that intelligence agencies and law enforcement are currently conducting a thorough head count to verify the precise number of abducted individuals.

In response to the growing safety fears, the local authorities has ordered the closure of all schools in the state, with nearby states following similar preventive steps.

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

President Bola Tinubu has postponed international engagements, including participation at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to concentrate on managing the situation.

Latest Violent Incidents

The school kidnappings constitute the latest in a sequence of security incidents that have rocked the country, including an attack on a church in western Nigeria where gunmen killed two people and abducted dozens congregation members during a live-streamed service.

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

Past Context

Nigeria remains traumatized by the legacy of the mass abduction of nearly 300 female students by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a decade ago, with some of those girls still unaccounted for.

Eyewitness Accounts

In a concerning video clip shared by Christian groups, a frightened employee recounted hearing the noise of motorcycles and cars before hearing "forceful banging" on various gates of the compound.

"Children were crying," the staff member reported, recounting her fear while searching for access to the area where the crying was most intense.

The regional Catholic diocese stated that the "assailants acted aggressively and without interruption for almost three hours, moving through sleeping quarters."

Citizen Reaction and Fears

Meanwhile, about 600km away on the outskirts of Abuja, worried parents were picking up their students from schools following the closure order.

One mother, a 40-year-old healthcare worker, expressed her disbelief at the magnitude of the kidnapping, asking how 300 students could be abducted at once.

She concluded that the "government is not doing enough to address the security crisis," and voiced support for external assistance to "resolve this situation."

Ongoing Security Challenges

For a long time, well-equipped criminal gangs have been conducting killings and kidnappings for money in remote areas of northern and middle Nigeria, where state presence is minimal.

While nobody has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks, criminal groups demanding financial compensation frequently attack schools in rural areas where protection is inadequate.

These gangs maintain bases in vast forest areas straddling several states in the west of Nigeria.

Although these bandits have no ideological leanings and are mainly driven by monetary profit, their growing alliance with extremist groups from the north-east has become a major cause of concern for officials and security analysts alike.