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Gunmen have seized more than 300 pupils and educators in what appears to be the most significant collective seizures in modern Nigerian experience, as reported by a religious organization on the weekend.

Growing Emergency in School Institutions

The pre-dawn Friday raid on St Mary's mixed-gender school in western Nigeria occurred just days after armed men invaded a high school in neighboring Kebbi state, seizing 25 female students.

Earlier accounts had indicated 227 victims were taken, but new numbers emerged after a thorough assessment determined that 303 pupils and 12 educators had been abducted.

The taken children, aged between eight and 18 years, represent nearly 50 percent of the school's total student body of 629.

Government Response and Safety Measures

State authorities have stated that security departments and police are presently conducting a thorough assessment to establish the precise number of abducted people.

In response to the growing security fears, the state government has ordered the closure of every schools in the region, with neighboring states adopting comparable preventive actions.

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

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

Latest Violent Incidents

The school kidnappings represent the latest in a series of security breaches that have rocked the country, including an assault on a place of worship in the west of Nigeria where assailants killed two individuals and seized numerous worshipers during a live-streamed service.

These events have taken place against the background of international focus on Nigeria's security situation.

Historical Context

Nigeria continues to be scarred by the memory of the mass kidnapping of nearly 300 female students by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a decade ago, with some of those girls still unaccounted for.

Eyewitness Testimonies

In a concerning recording shared by religious groups, a frightened employee recounted hearing the sounds of motorcycles and vehicles before experiencing "forceful banging" on multiple entrances of the school premises.

"Children were crying," the witness said, describing her terror while looking for keys to the section where the screaming was most intense.

The regional Catholic authority stated that the "attackers operated violently and without interruption for almost three hours, moving through dormitories."

Citizen Reaction and Concerns

Meanwhile, about 600km away on the periphery of Abuja, worried parents were picking up their students from schools following the closure order.

One parent, a 40-year-old nurse, voiced her shock at the scale of the kidnapping, questioning how 300 students could be taken simultaneously.

She concluded that the "authorities is failing to act to curb the security crisis," and expressed support for international assistance to "salvage this crisis."

Ongoing Security Challenges

For years, well-equipped bandit groups have been carrying out murders and abductions for ransom in rural areas of northern and central Nigeria, where government control is limited.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the recent attacks, criminal groups demanding ransom payments often target schools in countryside locations where security is inadequate.

These gangs maintain camps in vast woodland areas straddling multiple states in western Nigeria.

Although these bandits have no political motives and are mainly motivated by financial gain, their growing alliance with jihadist groups from the north-east has become a significant source of concern for authorities and experts alike.