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Armed attackers have abducted over 300 students and teachers in one of the largest mass kidnappings in recent Nigerian times, as reported by a religious organization on the weekend.

Growing Crisis in School Institutions

The pre-dawn Friday assault on St Mary's co-educational school in western Nigeria occurred just a short time after armed men stormed a secondary school in neighboring Kebbi state, seizing 25 female students.

Earlier reports had suggested 227 individuals were taken, but new numbers were released after a thorough counting process determined that 303 pupils and 12 teachers had been kidnapped.

The taken pupils, aged between eight and 18 years, account for nearly half of the school's total student body of 629.

Government Reaction and Safety Actions

Local officials have confirmed that security departments and police are presently performing a comprehensive census to determine the exact number of abducted individuals.

In reaction to the increasing safety fears, the state government has ordered the shutting of every schools in the state, with nearby states adopting similar precautionary actions.

Additionally, the federal education ministry has directed the temporary shutting of 47 residential high schools across the country.

President Bola Tinubu has cancelled international commitments, including participation at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to concentrate on handling the situation.

Recent Violent Events

The school abductions represent the most recent in a sequence of safety incidents that have shaken the nation, including an assault on a church in the west of Nigeria where gunmen shot dead two people and seized many worshipers during a online broadcast service.

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

Historical Background

Nigeria remains 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 missing.

Firsthand Accounts

In a disturbing video clip shared by religious organizations, a frightened employee described hearing the sounds of motorcycles and cars before experiencing "forceful banging" on various entrances of the compound.

"Children were screaming," the witness said, describing her terror while searching for keys to the area where the screaming was loudest.

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

Public Response and Concerns

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

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

She concluded that the "authorities is failing to act to curb the security crisis," and voiced support for international intervention to "resolve this situation."

Ongoing Security Challenges

For a long time, well-equipped bandit groups have been conducting killings and kidnappings for money in rural areas of northern and middle Nigeria, where state presence is minimal.

While nobody has taken credit for the recent incidents, bandit gangs seeking ransom payments frequently target schools in rural areas where security is inadequate.

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

While these criminals have no ideological leanings and are primarily motivated by monetary profit, their increasing alliance with extremist groups from the northeastern region has become a significant cause of concern for authorities and experts alike.