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Gunmen have seized more than 300 schoolchildren and staff in what is considered the largest group abductions in modern Nigerian times, as reported by a Christian organization on Saturday.

Escalating Crisis in School Institutions

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

Earlier accounts had stated 227 victims were taken, but updated numbers were released after a detailed counting process determined that 303 pupils and 12 teachers had been kidnapped.

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

Official Reaction and Security Actions

State authorities have stated that intelligence agencies and police are presently conducting a comprehensive head count to verify the exact number of abducted people.

In response to the increasing safety fears, the local authorities has mandated the closure of all schools in the state, with neighboring states adopting similar preventive actions.

Additionally, the national education ministry has directed the temporary shutting of 47 boarding secondary schools across the country.

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

Latest Security Incidents

The school kidnappings represent the most recent in a sequence of security breaches that have shaken the nation, including an assault on a church in western Nigeria where assailants killed two individuals and seized numerous congregation members during a online broadcast service.

These events have occurred against the backdrop of global focus on Nigeria's safety situation.

Historical Background

Nigeria continues to be traumatized by the legacy of the large-scale kidnapping of almost 300 female students by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a ten years ago, with several of those girls still unaccounted for.

Eyewitness Testimonies

In a disturbing recording shared by religious organizations, a frightened school staff member described hearing the sounds of motorcycles and cars before hearing "violent banging" on multiple entrances of the school premises.

"Students were weeping," the witness stated, recounting her terror while looking for keys to the area where the screaming was loudest.

The regional Catholic diocese stated that the "attackers acted violently and without interruption for almost three hours, searching sleeping quarters."

Citizen Reaction and Concerns

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

One parent, a 40-year-old nurse, voiced her shock at the magnitude of the abduction, asking how 300 students could be abducted simultaneously.

She concluded that the "authorities is not doing enough to combat insecurity," and expressed support for international assistance to "salvage this crisis."

Ongoing Security Issues

For a long time, well-equipped bandit groups have been conducting killings and kidnappings for money in remote areas of northwest and middle Nigeria, where government control is limited.

While no group has taken credit for the latest attacks, bandit gangs demanding ransom payments often target schools in rural areas where protection is weak.

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

Although these bandits have no ideological leanings and are mainly motivated by financial gain, their increasing cooperation with jihadist groups from the northeastern region has become a major cause of concern for authorities and security analysts alike.