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Gunmen have seized in excess of 300 students and teachers in one of the largest group abductions in recent Nigerian history, as stated by a religious organization on Saturday.

Growing Crisis in Educational Facilities

The early Friday attack on St Mary's co-educational school in Niger state came just a short time after gunmen invaded a secondary school in neighboring Kebbi state, seizing 25 young women.

Initial reports had suggested 227 individuals were seized, but updated figures emerged after a detailed verification exercise confirmed that 303 pupils and 12 educators had been abducted.

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

Official Response and Safety Measures

Local authorities have stated that intelligence departments and law enforcement are currently performing a thorough head count to verify the precise number of missing individuals.

In response to the increasing safety fears, the state government has directed the closure of every schools in the region, with neighboring states adopting similar precautionary actions.

Furthermore, the federal education department has ordered the provisional closure of 47 residential high schools across the country.

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

Recent Violent Events

The school kidnappings constitute the latest in a sequence of safety incidents that have shaken the country, including an assault on a church in the west of Nigeria where gunmen shot dead two people and abducted many worshipers during a online broadcast service.

These incidents have occurred against the backdrop of global attention on Nigeria's safety situation.

Historical Context

Nigeria remains traumatized by the memory of the large-scale abduction of almost 300 female students by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a decade ago, with some of those girls still unaccounted for.

Firsthand Testimonies

In a disturbing video clip shared by Christian groups, a frightened worker described hearing the noise of motorcycles and cars before experiencing "forceful banging" on multiple gates of the compound.

"Students were screaming," the staff member stated, describing her fear while looking for keys to the area where the crying was loudest.

The local Catholic diocese confirmed that the "assailants acted aggressively and without interruption for nearly three hours, moving through sleeping quarters."

Citizen Response and Concerns

Meanwhile, about 600km away on the outskirts of Abuja, concerned guardians were collecting their students from educational institutions following the shutdown order.

One parent, a 40-year-old nurse, voiced her disbelief at the scale of the abduction, questioning how 300 children could be taken at once.

She stated that the "authorities is failing to act to address the security crisis," and voiced approval for external intervention to "resolve this situation."

Continuing Safety Issues

For years, well-equipped criminal gangs have been conducting killings and abductions for money in rural areas of northern and middle Nigeria, where government control is limited.

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

These gangs maintain bases in vast woodland areas spanning multiple states in the west of Nigeria.

While these criminals have no political motives and are primarily driven by financial gain, their increasing cooperation with extremist groups from the northeastern region has become a major source of worry for officials and experts alike.