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Armed attackers have abducted over 300 students and teachers in what is considered the biggest mass kidnappings in recent Nigerian experience, as reported by a Christian organization on the weekend.

Growing Emergency in Educational Institutions

The Friday morning raid on St Mary's mixed-gender school in western Nigeria came just a short time after armed men stormed a high school in adjacent Kebbi state, taking 25 female students.

Initial accounts had indicated 227 individuals were taken, but updated numbers were released after a thorough counting process established that 303 pupils and 12 teachers had been abducted.

The taken children, ranging between eight and 18 years, constitute nearly 50 percent of the school's overall student body of 629.

Government Reaction and Security Measures

Local officials have announced that intelligence agencies and law enforcement are currently conducting a thorough head count to establish the exact number of missing individuals.

In reaction to the increasing security concerns, the local authorities has ordered the shutting of all schools in the region, with neighboring states adopting similar preventive actions.

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

President Bola Tinubu has postponed international commitments, including attendance at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to focus on handling the situation.

Latest Violent Events

The school abductions constitute the latest in a series of safety incidents that have shaken the nation, including an assault on a place of worship in western Nigeria where assailants killed two individuals and seized many congregation members during a live-streamed service.

These events have occurred against the background of international focus on Nigeria's security situation.

Historical Background

Nigeria continues to be traumatized by the legacy of the large-scale kidnapping of nearly 300 female students by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a ten years ago, with several of those victims still unaccounted for.

Firsthand Accounts

In a concerning video clip shared by religious groups, a upset school staff member described hearing the noise of motorcycles and vehicles before hearing "violent banging" on various gates of the school premises.

"Children were crying," the staff member reported, describing her fear while searching for keys to the area where the screaming was loudest.

The local Catholic authority stated that the "assailants acted aggressively and uninterrupted for almost three hours, moving through dormitories."

Public Response and Fears

Meanwhile, about 600km away on the outskirts of Abuja, worried guardians were collecting their children from schools following the closure directive.

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

She stated that the "authorities is not doing enough to address insecurity," and expressed support for international intervention to "resolve this situation."

Ongoing Safety Issues

For years, heavily armed bandit groups have been carrying out murders and abductions for money in rural areas of northwest and middle Nigeria, where state presence is limited.

While no group has taken credit for the latest incidents, criminal groups seeking financial compensation often target schools in countryside locations where protection is inadequate.

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

Although these bandits have no ideological leanings and are primarily motivated by monetary profit, their growing alliance with extremist groups from the northeastern region has become a significant source of concern for officials and security analysts alike.