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Armed attackers have seized over 300 students and teachers in one of the most significant mass kidnappings in recent Nigerian experience, according to a religious organization on the weekend.

Growing Emergency in School Facilities

The early Friday raid on St Mary's mixed-gender school in Niger state came just a short time after armed men stormed a secondary school in neighboring Kebbi state, taking 25 female students.

Earlier reports had stated 227 victims were taken, but new numbers emerged after a thorough assessment established that 303 pupils and 12 instructors had been kidnapped.

The taken children, ranging between eight and 18 years, account for nearly half of the school's total enrollment of 629.

Government Reaction and Safety Actions

State authorities have announced that intelligence departments and police are presently performing a thorough census to determine the precise number of abducted people.

In reaction to the increasing security concerns, the state government has ordered the shutting of all schools in the state, with neighboring states following comparable preventive measures.

Furthermore, the federal education department has directed the temporary shutting of 47 residential high schools throughout the country.

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

Latest Security Events

The educational institution abductions constitute the most recent in a series of safety breaches that have shaken the country, including an attack on a church in western Nigeria where gunmen shot dead two people and seized dozens congregation members during a live-streamed service.

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

Past Background

Nigeria continues to be scarred by the memory of the large-scale abduction of almost 300 schoolgirls by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a ten years ago, with several of those girls still unaccounted for.

Firsthand Accounts

In a concerning recording circulated by religious organizations, a upset worker recounted hearing the noise of motorcycles and cars before experiencing "forceful banging" on multiple gates of the school premises.

"Children were weeping," the witness reported, describing her terror while looking for access to the section where the screaming was most intense.

The local Catholic authority confirmed that the "attackers operated aggressively and uninterrupted for almost three hours, searching dormitories."

Citizen Reaction and Fears

Meanwhile, about 600km away on the periphery of Abuja, concerned guardians were collecting their children from educational institutions following the shutdown order.

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

She concluded that the "government is failing to act to address the security crisis," and expressed approval for international intervention to "salvage this crisis."

Ongoing Security Challenges

For years, well-equipped bandit groups have been carrying out murders and abductions for ransom in rural areas of northwest and middle Nigeria, where government control is minimal.

While no group has taken credit for the latest incidents, criminal groups demanding ransom payments often target schools in rural areas where security is weak.

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

While these criminals have no political motives and are primarily driven by monetary profit, their increasing cooperation with extremist groups from the northeastern region has become a major cause of worry for officials and security analysts alike.