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Armed attackers have kidnapped over 300 schoolchildren and staff in what appears to be the biggest group abductions in recent Nigerian times, as stated by a religious organization on the weekend.

Growing Emergency in School Institutions

The pre-dawn Friday attack on St Mary's mixed-gender school in western Nigeria occurred just a short time after gunmen attacked a secondary school in adjacent Kebbi state, seizing 25 young women.

Initial reports had indicated 227 individuals were taken, but new numbers emerged after a detailed counting process established that 303 pupils and 12 educators had been abducted.

The abducted pupils, ranging between eight and 18 years, account for nearly 50 percent of the school's overall enrollment of 629.

Official Reaction and Security Actions

Local authorities have announced that intelligence departments and law enforcement are presently conducting a thorough assessment to verify the exact number of abducted people.

In reaction to the increasing security fears, the state government has mandated the shutting of all schools in the region, with neighboring states following comparable precautionary steps.

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

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

Latest Security Events

The school abductions represent the latest in a sequence of safety breaches that have rocked the country, including an assault on a church in the west of Nigeria where gunmen shot dead two people and seized dozens congregation members during a live-streamed service.

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

Past Background

Nigeria continues to be scarred by the memory of the mass abduction of almost 300 schoolgirls by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a decade ago, with some of those girls still missing.

Firsthand Testimonies

In a concerning recording shared by Christian organizations, a frightened employee described hearing the sounds of motorcycles and vehicles before experiencing "forceful banging" on multiple gates of the compound.

"Children were crying," the witness reported, recounting her terror while searching for access to the area where the screaming was most intense.

The local Catholic diocese stated that the "attackers operated aggressively and uninterrupted for almost three hours, moving through dormitories."

Public Reaction and Fears

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

One mother, a 40-year-old healthcare worker, voiced her disbelief at the scale of the kidnapping, questioning how 300 children could be abducted simultaneously.

She stated that the "government is failing to act to curb the security crisis," and expressed approval for external assistance to "salvage this crisis."

Ongoing Security Issues

For years, well-equipped bandit groups have been carrying out murders and kidnappings for ransom in rural areas of northern and middle Nigeria, where state presence is minimal.

While nobody has claimed responsibility for the latest incidents, bandit gangs seeking ransom payments frequently attack schools in countryside locations where security is weak.

These groups maintain camps in vast woodland areas spanning several states in the west of Nigeria.

While these bandits have no ideological leanings and are primarily driven by monetary profit, their increasing cooperation with jihadist groups from the north-east has become a significant cause of concern for officials and security analysts alike.