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

Escalating Crisis in Educational Facilities

The early Friday raid on St Mary's co-educational school in Niger state came just a short time after gunmen invaded a high school in neighboring Kebbi state, seizing 25 female students.

Earlier accounts had stated 227 individuals were seized, but updated numbers surfaced after a detailed assessment confirmed that 303 students and 12 teachers had been kidnapped.

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

Official Reaction and Security Measures

State officials have announced that intelligence departments and police are currently performing a thorough census to verify the exact number of missing people.

In response to the growing security concerns, the state government has ordered the shutting of all schools in the region, with neighboring states following comparable precautionary measures.

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

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

Latest Violent Events

The school abductions represent the latest in a series of security breaches that have rocked the country, including an assault on a church in western Nigeria where assailants killed two people and seized numerous congregation members during a online broadcast service.

These incidents have occurred against the backdrop of global focus on Nigeria's safety situation.

Past Context

Nigeria remains traumatized by the memory of the mass kidnapping of almost 300 female students by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a ten years ago, with several of those girls still missing.

Eyewitness Testimonies

In a disturbing recording shared by religious groups, a upset school staff member recounted hearing the sounds of motorcycles and cars before hearing "forceful banging" on multiple gates of the compound.

"Students were screaming," the staff member stated, describing her panic while looking for keys to the area where the screaming was most intense.

The local Catholic authority stated that the "attackers operated violently and uninterrupted for nearly three hours, searching dormitories."

Public Response and Concerns

At the same time, about 600km away on the outskirts of Abuja, concerned parents were picking up their students from educational institutions following the shutdown order.

One mother, a 40-year-old nurse, expressed her shock at the magnitude of the kidnapping, asking how 300 children could be taken at once.

She concluded that the "authorities is not doing enough to curb the security crisis," and expressed approval for external assistance to "salvage this situation."

Continuing Safety Issues

For years, heavily armed criminal gangs have been conducting murders and kidnappings for ransom in rural areas of northern and central Nigeria, where state presence is limited.

While nobody has taken credit for the recent attacks, bandit gangs demanding ransom payments frequently target schools in countryside locations where protection is weak.

These groups maintain camps in extensive forest areas straddling several states in western Nigeria.

Although these bandits have no political motives and are mainly motivated by monetary profit, their increasing alliance with extremist groups from the north-east has become a significant cause of concern for officials and experts alike.