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Gunmen have seized more than 300 students and teachers in what appears to be the largest group abductions in recent Nigerian history, according to a Christian organization on the weekend.

Escalating Crisis in Educational Institutions

The early Friday raid on St Mary's co-educational school in western Nigeria came just a short time after gunmen stormed a high school in adjacent Kebbi state, taking 25 girls.

Initial accounts had indicated 227 individuals were taken, but updated numbers emerged after a detailed verification exercise confirmed that 303 students and 12 teachers had been abducted.

The kidnapped children, ranging between eight and 18 years, represent nearly half of the school's overall student body of 629.

Official Reaction and Safety Actions

State officials have confirmed that intelligence agencies and police are presently performing a comprehensive assessment to establish the exact number of abducted individuals.

In response to the increasing security concerns, the local authorities has ordered the shutting of all schools in the region, with neighboring states following similar precautionary measures.

Furthermore, the national education department has directed the provisional shutting of 47 residential high schools across the country.

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

Latest Violent Incidents

The school kidnappings represent the latest 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 people and abducted many worshipers during a online broadcast service.

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

Past Context

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 decade ago, with some of those girls still missing.

Eyewitness Accounts

In a concerning recording shared by Christian organizations, a distraught school staff member recounted hearing the sounds of motorcycles and cars before hearing "forceful banging" on various gates of the compound.

"Children were weeping," the staff member reported, describing her panic while searching for access to the area where the crying was loudest.

The regional Catholic diocese stated that the "assailants operated aggressively and without interruption for nearly three hours, moving through dormitories."

Citizen Reaction and Fears

At the same time, about 600km away on the outskirts of Abuja, concerned guardians were collecting their children from educational institutions following the closure order.

One mother, a 40-year-old nurse, expressed her disbelief at the magnitude of the kidnapping, asking how 300 children could be abducted simultaneously.

She concluded that the "government is failing to act to address the security crisis," and voiced support for external intervention to "resolve this crisis."

Continuing Safety Challenges

For years, heavily armed bandit groups have been carrying out killings and abductions for ransom in remote areas of northern and middle Nigeria, where government control is minimal.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the recent attacks, criminal groups seeking financial compensation often attack schools in countryside locations where protection is weak.

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

Although these criminals have no ideological leanings and are mainly driven by monetary profit, their growing cooperation with extremist groups from the northeastern region has become a significant cause of worry for authorities and security analysts alike.