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Armed attackers have kidnapped more than 300 pupils and educators in what appears to be the largest group abductions in modern Nigerian experience, as reported by a religious organization on the weekend.

Escalating Emergency in School Facilities

The Friday morning raid on St Mary's co-educational school in Niger state came just days after gunmen invaded a secondary school in neighboring Kebbi state, seizing 25 young women.

Initial reports had stated 227 victims were taken, but new figures surfaced after a comprehensive verification exercise determined that 303 students and 12 instructors had been abducted.

The abducted children, ranging between eight and 18 years, constitute nearly half of the school's overall enrollment of 629.

Government Response and Safety Measures

Local authorities have announced that security agencies and law enforcement are currently conducting a comprehensive head count to determine the precise number of abducted people.

In reaction to the increasing security fears, the state government has mandated the shutting of every schools in the region, with neighboring states following comparable preventive steps.

Additionally, the federal education ministry has directed the temporary closure of 47 residential high schools throughout the country.

President Bola Tinubu has cancelled overseas commitments, including participation at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to focus on managing the crisis.

Recent Security Events

The educational institution kidnappings constitute the most recent in a series of safety breaches that have shaken the nation, including an attack on a place of worship in western Nigeria where gunmen shot dead two people and seized dozens worshipers during a online broadcast service.

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

Historical Context

Nigeria continues to be scarred by the memory of the large-scale abduction of nearly 300 female students by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a decade ago, with some of those girls still missing.

Eyewitness Accounts

In a concerning video clip circulated by religious organizations, a distraught worker recounted hearing the sounds of bikes and cars before experiencing "violent banging" on multiple entrances of the compound.

"Children were crying," the staff member stated, recounting her terror while searching for keys to the section where the screaming was loudest.

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

Public Response and Fears

Meanwhile, about 600km away on the periphery of Abuja, concerned guardians were picking up their children from schools following the shutdown directive.

One parent, a 40-year-old nurse, voiced her shock at the scale of the abduction, asking how 300 children could be taken at once.

She stated that the "authorities is failing to act to address the security crisis," and expressed support for international intervention to "resolve this situation."

Ongoing Safety Challenges

For a long time, well-equipped bandit groups have been carrying out killings and kidnappings for money in rural areas of northern and middle Nigeria, where government control is minimal.

While no group has taken credit for the recent incidents, bandit gangs seeking ransom payments frequently attack schools in countryside locations where protection is weak.

These groups maintain camps in vast woodland areas straddling multiple states in the west of Nigeria.

Although these criminals have no political motives and are primarily driven by financial gain, their increasing alliance with extremist groups from the northeastern region has become a major source of concern for officials and experts alike.