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Gunmen have kidnapped over 300 students and teachers in what appears to be the biggest collective seizures in recent Nigerian history, according to a religious organization on the weekend.

Escalating Emergency in School Institutions

The Friday morning attack on St Mary's co-educational school in western Nigeria occurred just days after armed men invaded a secondary school in neighboring Kebbi state, seizing 25 female students.

Earlier accounts had suggested 227 victims were seized, but new figures were released after a detailed verification exercise determined that 303 pupils and 12 educators had been abducted.

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

Official Response and Safety Actions

Local authorities have stated that intelligence departments and law enforcement are presently conducting a comprehensive assessment to verify the exact number of missing individuals.

In response to the growing security concerns, the local authorities has directed the shutting of every schools in the region, with nearby states adopting comparable preventive steps.

Furthermore, the federal education ministry has ordered the temporary shutting of 47 boarding secondary schools throughout the country.

President Bola Tinubu has called off international commitments, including attendance at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to concentrate on addressing the crisis.

Latest Security Incidents

The educational institution abductions represent the most recent in a series of security breaches that have shaken the country, including an assault on a church in the west of Nigeria where assailants shot dead two people and abducted many worshipers during a live-streamed service.

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

Past Context

Nigeria continues to be traumatized by the legacy of the mass abduction of almost 300 schoolgirls by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a ten years ago, with some of those girls still missing.

Firsthand Testimonies

In a concerning recording shared by religious organizations, a frightened worker recounted hearing the noise of bikes and cars before hearing "forceful banging" on multiple entrances of the school premises.

"Children were weeping," the witness said, recounting her panic while searching for access to the section where the crying was most intense.

The regional Catholic authority stated that the "attackers operated violently and without interruption for almost three hours, moving through dormitories."

Public Response and Concerns

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

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

She stated that the "government is not doing enough to curb the security crisis," and expressed approval for external intervention to "salvage this crisis."

Continuing Security Issues

For a long time, heavily armed bandit groups have been conducting murders and kidnappings for money in remote areas of northwest and central Nigeria, where state presence is limited.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the recent incidents, criminal groups demanding ransom payments frequently attack schools in rural areas where protection is inadequate.

These groups maintain bases in extensive forest areas straddling multiple states in the west of Nigeria.

Although these criminals have no ideological leanings and are mainly motivated by financial gain, their increasing cooperation with jihadist groups from the north-east has become a significant cause of concern for officials and experts alike.