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Gunmen have abducted more than 300 students and teachers in one of the most significant group abductions in recent Nigerian experience, as stated by a religious organization on the weekend.

Escalating Emergency in Educational Institutions

The pre-dawn Friday assault on St Mary's co-educational school in western Nigeria came just days after gunmen stormed a secondary school in adjacent Kebbi state, abducting 25 young women.

Earlier accounts had suggested 227 individuals were taken, but revised numbers emerged after a detailed verification exercise confirmed that 303 students and 12 instructors had been kidnapped.

The abducted children, aged between eight and 18 years, account for nearly 50 percent of the school's overall student body of 629.

Government Reaction and Security Measures

State officials have stated that security agencies and police are currently performing a thorough assessment to establish the precise number of abducted people.

In reaction to the increasing safety fears, the local authorities has mandated the closure of all schools in the region, with neighboring states adopting comparable preventive actions.

Furthermore, the national education ministry has ordered the provisional closure of 47 boarding secondary schools throughout the country.

President Bola Tinubu has cancelled international commitments, including attendance at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to focus on addressing the situation.

Recent Violent Events

The school kidnappings constitute the latest in a series of security incidents that have shaken the nation, including an assault on a church in the west of Nigeria where assailants shot dead two individuals and seized many congregation members during a live-streamed service.

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

Historical Background

Nigeria continues to be traumatized by the legacy of the large-scale kidnapping of almost 300 schoolgirls by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a ten years ago, with some of those girls still missing.

Firsthand Accounts

In a disturbing recording circulated by Christian organizations, a upset school staff member recounted hearing the noise of bikes and vehicles before hearing "violent banging" on various entrances of the school premises.

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

The local Catholic diocese confirmed that the "attackers operated aggressively and without interruption for almost three hours, searching sleeping quarters."

Public Reaction and Concerns

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

One mother, a 40-year-old healthcare worker, expressed her disbelief at the magnitude of the abduction, asking how 300 children could be taken at once.

She concluded that the "government is not doing enough to combat the security crisis," and expressed support for international assistance to "resolve this situation."

Continuing Security Challenges

For a long time, well-equipped bandit groups have been carrying out killings and abductions for ransom in remote areas of northwest and central Nigeria, where state presence is limited.

While no group has taken credit for the recent attacks, bandit gangs seeking financial compensation often target schools in countryside locations where protection is weak.

These groups maintain bases in extensive forest areas straddling multiple states in western Nigeria.

Although these bandits have no ideological leanings and are mainly motivated by monetary profit, their increasing cooperation with extremist groups from the north-east has become a major cause of worry for authorities and experts alike.