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Armed attackers have seized more than 300 pupils and educators in one of the largest collective seizures in modern Nigerian experience, according to a religious organization on the weekend.

Growing Emergency in Educational Institutions

The early Friday attack on St Mary's mixed-gender school in western Nigeria occurred just a short time after armed men invaded a secondary school in adjacent Kebbi state, taking 25 girls.

Earlier accounts had stated 227 victims were taken, but updated figures emerged after a comprehensive assessment determined that 303 students and 12 educators had been abducted.

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

Government Response and Safety Measures

State officials have confirmed that security departments and law enforcement are currently conducting a thorough census to determine the precise number of abducted people.

In response to the growing security fears, the local authorities has directed the closure of all schools in the region, with nearby states adopting similar preventive actions.

Additionally, the national education ministry has directed the temporary closure of 47 boarding secondary schools across the country.

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

Latest Violent Events

The school kidnappings represent the latest in a sequence of safety incidents that have rocked the country, including an assault on a place of worship in the west of Nigeria where assailants killed two people and seized numerous worshipers during a online broadcast service.

These events have taken place against the backdrop of international attention on Nigeria's safety situation.

Past Context

Nigeria remains traumatized by the memory 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 victims still missing.

Firsthand Testimonies

In a concerning recording shared by religious organizations, a frightened worker recounted hearing the noise of bikes and vehicles before experiencing "forceful banging" on multiple gates of the school premises.

"Students were screaming," the witness said, describing her fear while searching for keys to the area where the crying was loudest.

The regional Catholic authority stated that the "attackers operated violently and uninterrupted for nearly three hours, searching sleeping quarters."

Public Response and Concerns

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

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

She concluded that the "authorities is not doing enough to curb the security crisis," and voiced approval for international intervention to "resolve this situation."

Continuing Safety Issues

For years, well-equipped criminal gangs have been carrying out killings and kidnappings for ransom in remote areas of northwest and central Nigeria, where government control is limited.

While no group has taken credit for the latest incidents, criminal groups demanding ransom payments frequently attack schools in countryside locations where security is inadequate.

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

While these bandits have no ideological leanings and are primarily motivated by financial gain, their growing cooperation with jihadist groups from the northeastern region has become a major source of worry for authorities and experts alike.