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Gunmen have kidnapped in excess of 300 students and teachers in one of the most significant collective seizures in recent Nigerian experience, as stated by a religious organization on Saturday.

Escalating Emergency in School Institutions

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

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

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

Government Response and Safety Actions

State authorities have announced that intelligence departments and law enforcement are currently performing a thorough census to establish the exact number of abducted people.

In reaction to the increasing security concerns, the local authorities has mandated the closure of every schools in the state, with nearby states adopting comparable precautionary steps.

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

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

Latest Violent Events

The school abductions constitute the latest in a series of safety incidents that have rocked the country, including an attack on a church in the west of Nigeria where gunmen killed two people and abducted many congregation members during a live-streamed service.

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

Historical Context

Nigeria remains traumatized by the legacy of the mass abduction of almost 300 schoolgirls by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a decade ago, with several of those victims still missing.

Firsthand Testimonies

In a disturbing video clip circulated by Christian organizations, a frightened school staff member described hearing the sounds of bikes and vehicles before hearing "violent banging" on various gates of the school premises.

"Children were crying," the staff member said, describing her terror while looking for keys to the area where the crying was loudest.

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

Citizen Reaction and Concerns

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

One parent, a 40-year-old healthcare worker, expressed her shock at the magnitude of the kidnapping, asking how 300 students could be taken at once.

She concluded that the "government is not doing enough to curb the security crisis," and voiced support for external assistance to "resolve this situation."

Ongoing Security Issues

For a long time, heavily armed bandit groups have been carrying out murders and kidnappings for ransom in remote areas of northern and central Nigeria, where state presence is limited.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the recent attacks, bandit gangs demanding ransom payments frequently target schools in countryside locations where protection is weak.

These gangs maintain camps in vast forest areas straddling multiple states in western Nigeria.

Although these criminals have no political motives and are mainly motivated by monetary profit, their growing cooperation with jihadist groups from the north-east has become a significant cause of concern for officials and security analysts alike.