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Gunmen have abducted over 300 pupils and educators in one of the largest collective seizures in modern Nigerian times, as reported by a religious organization on the weekend.

Growing Crisis in School Institutions

The early Friday raid on St Mary's co-educational school in western Nigeria happened just a short time after gunmen attacked a high school in neighboring Kebbi state, taking 25 young women.

Earlier accounts had stated 227 victims were seized, but updated figures emerged after a comprehensive counting process established that 303 pupils and 12 educators had been kidnapped.

The kidnapped students, ranging between eight and 18 years, account for nearly 50 percent of the school's overall student body of 629.

Government Response and Security Measures

Local authorities have announced that security departments and police are currently performing a thorough assessment to determine the precise number of missing individuals.

In reaction to the increasing safety fears, the state government has directed the closure of every schools in the state, with nearby states following similar preventive measures.

Additionally, the national education ministry has ordered the temporary closure of 47 residential high schools throughout the country.

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

Latest Violent Events

The educational institution kidnappings represent the latest in a sequence of safety incidents that have shaken the country, including an attack on a church in the west of Nigeria where gunmen killed two people and abducted numerous worshipers during a online broadcast service.

These incidents have taken place against the backdrop of international attention on Nigeria's security situation.

Past Context

Nigeria continues to be traumatized by the legacy of the large-scale abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a ten years ago, with some of those girls still unaccounted for.

Eyewitness Accounts

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

"Children were screaming," the staff member stated, describing her panic while looking for access to the section where the screaming was most intense.

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

Public Response and Fears

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

One parent, a 40-year-old nurse, voiced her shock at the scale of the kidnapping, questioning how 300 students could be abducted at once.

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

Continuing Security Issues

For years, heavily armed bandit groups have been carrying out killings and kidnappings for money in remote areas of northern and middle Nigeria, where government control is limited.

While nobody has taken credit for the latest attacks, criminal groups seeking financial compensation often attack schools in countryside locations where protection is weak.

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

While these bandits have no ideological leanings and are mainly motivated by monetary profit, their growing alliance with extremist groups from the north-east has become a major source of concern for authorities and security analysts alike.