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Armed attackers have abducted more than 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.

Growing Emergency in School Institutions

The Friday morning raid on St Mary's mixed-gender school in Niger state happened just days after armed men attacked a high school in adjacent Kebbi state, abducting 25 young women.

Initial reports had stated 227 victims were seized, but updated figures emerged after a detailed counting process established that 303 pupils and 12 instructors had been kidnapped.

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

Official Reaction and Safety Actions

State officials have confirmed that security departments and law enforcement are presently conducting a comprehensive head count to verify the precise number of missing individuals.

In reaction to the increasing security concerns, the local authorities has mandated the shutting of every schools in the region, with neighboring states adopting comparable precautionary measures.

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

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

Latest Security Events

The educational institution abductions represent the latest in a series of security incidents that have shaken the nation, including an attack on a place of worship in western Nigeria where gunmen shot dead two people and seized dozens congregation members during a online broadcast service.

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

Past Context

Nigeria remains traumatized by the legacy of the large-scale abduction of almost 300 schoolgirls by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a ten years ago, with several of those victims still unaccounted for.

Eyewitness Accounts

In a concerning video clip shared by religious groups, a frightened employee recounted hearing the sounds of motorcycles and cars before hearing "violent banging" on multiple gates of the school premises.

"Students were crying," the witness reported, describing her fear while searching for access to the area where the screaming was loudest.

The local Catholic authority confirmed that the "assailants operated violently and uninterrupted for almost three hours, moving through sleeping quarters."

Citizen Reaction and Fears

At the same time, about 600km away on the outskirts of Abuja, worried parents were collecting their students from schools following the closure directive.

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

She concluded that the "government is failing to act to address the security crisis," and voiced support for international assistance to "salvage this crisis."

Continuing Security Challenges

For years, heavily armed criminal gangs have been conducting killings and abductions for money in rural areas of northwest and middle Nigeria, where government control is minimal.

While nobody has claimed responsibility for the recent incidents, criminal groups seeking ransom payments often attack schools in rural areas where protection is inadequate.

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

Although these bandits have no ideological leanings and are mainly driven by monetary profit, their increasing alliance with extremist groups from the northeastern region has become a major source of worry for officials and security analysts alike.