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Armed attackers have seized more than 300 pupils and educators in what is considered the biggest group abductions in recent Nigerian experience, according to a Christian organization on the weekend.

Growing Emergency in School Institutions

The early Friday attack on St Mary's co-educational school in Niger state occurred just a short time after gunmen attacked a high school in neighboring Kebbi state, seizing 25 young women.

Initial reports had stated 227 individuals were taken, but revised figures surfaced after a thorough counting process established that 303 students and 12 instructors had been kidnapped.

The kidnapped students, ranging between eight and 18 years, constitute nearly half of the school's overall student population of 629.

Official Response and Security Actions

State authorities have confirmed that security departments and law enforcement are presently conducting a comprehensive head count to verify the precise number of abducted individuals.

In reaction to the increasing safety concerns, the state government has directed the shutting of all schools in the region, with nearby states following similar preventive measures.

Additionally, the national education ministry has directed the provisional shutting of 47 boarding secondary schools throughout the country.

President Bola Tinubu has cancelled international engagements, including attendance at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to focus on addressing the emergency.

Latest Violent Events

The school abductions constitute the most recent in a sequence of security breaches that have shaken the nation, including an assault on a place of worship in western Nigeria where gunmen killed two individuals and abducted many worshipers during a live-streamed service.

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

Past Background

Nigeria remains traumatized by the memory of the large-scale kidnapping of almost 300 female students by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a decade ago, with some of those victims still missing.

Eyewitness Accounts

In a disturbing video clip shared by religious organizations, a distraught employee described hearing the sounds of bikes and cars before experiencing "violent banging" on multiple gates of the school premises.

"Students were screaming," the witness reported, describing her fear while searching for keys to the section where the crying was loudest.

The regional Catholic authority confirmed that the "attackers operated violently and without interruption for nearly three hours, searching dormitories."

Public Reaction and Concerns

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

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

She stated that the "government is not doing enough to combat insecurity," and expressed support for external assistance to "resolve this situation."

Continuing Security Challenges

For a long time, heavily armed criminal gangs have been carrying out killings and abductions for ransom in remote areas of northwest and central Nigeria, where government control is limited.

While nobody has claimed responsibility for the recent incidents, bandit gangs demanding financial compensation frequently attack schools in countryside locations where protection is weak.

These groups maintain camps in extensive forest areas spanning several states in the west of Nigeria.

Although these criminals have no ideological leanings and are primarily motivated by monetary profit, their increasing alliance with jihadist groups from the north-east has become a major source of worry for officials and security analysts alike.