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Gunmen have seized over 300 students and teachers in what is considered the biggest collective seizures in modern Nigerian times, according to a Christian organization on the weekend.

Escalating Crisis in Educational Institutions

The pre-dawn Friday raid on St Mary's co-educational school in western Nigeria happened just days after gunmen attacked a high school in adjacent Kebbi state, taking 25 girls.

Earlier accounts had suggested 227 victims were seized, but new numbers emerged after a comprehensive verification exercise established that 303 pupils and 12 instructors had been abducted.

The abducted children, aged between eight and 18 years, account for nearly half of the school's overall student population of 629.

Government Response and Safety Actions

Local officials have announced that intelligence departments and police are currently performing a thorough census to determine the exact number of missing people.

In reaction to the increasing security concerns, the state government has directed the closure of every schools in the region, with neighboring states following similar preventive measures.

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

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

Recent Security Incidents

The school abductions represent the most recent in a series of safety incidents that have shaken the country, including an assault on a place of worship in the west of Nigeria where gunmen shot dead two individuals and abducted numerous congregation members during a live-streamed service.

These incidents have occurred against the backdrop of global focus on Nigeria's security situation.

Historical Context

Nigeria remains scarred by the legacy of the mass abduction of almost 300 female students by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a ten years ago, with several of those victims still missing.

Eyewitness Accounts

In a disturbing recording shared by religious groups, a distraught employee recounted hearing the sounds of bikes and vehicles before hearing "forceful banging" on various gates of the compound.

"Students were screaming," the witness reported, describing her panic while looking for keys to the area where the screaming was loudest.

The local Catholic diocese stated that the "attackers acted aggressively and uninterrupted for nearly three hours, moving through sleeping quarters."

Public Reaction and Concerns

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

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

She concluded that the "authorities is failing to act to address insecurity," and expressed support for international assistance to "resolve this crisis."

Ongoing Safety Challenges

For years, well-equipped bandit groups have been conducting killings and abductions for ransom in rural areas of northwest and middle Nigeria, where government control is minimal.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks, criminal groups demanding ransom payments often attack schools in countryside locations where protection is weak.

These groups maintain camps in vast forest areas straddling several states in western Nigeria.

While these criminals have no ideological leanings and are primarily driven by financial gain, their growing alliance with jihadist groups from the northeastern region has become a major cause of worry for authorities and security analysts alike.