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Armed attackers have kidnapped in excess of 300 schoolchildren and staff in what is considered the most significant collective seizures in modern Nigerian experience, as reported by a Christian organization on the weekend.

Escalating Emergency in Educational Institutions

The Friday morning attack on St Mary's co-educational school in Niger state happened just a short time after gunmen invaded a high school in adjacent Kebbi state, seizing 25 young women.

Initial reports had suggested 227 individuals were seized, but updated numbers surfaced after a comprehensive counting process determined that 303 pupils and 12 teachers had been abducted.

The kidnapped students, aged between eight and 18 years, constitute nearly half of the school's overall student body of 629.

Official Response and Safety Actions

Local officials have announced that security agencies and law enforcement are presently conducting a comprehensive census to verify the precise number of abducted people.

In reaction to the increasing security fears, the state government has mandated the closure of all schools in the region, with nearby states adopting comparable precautionary actions.

Additionally, the federal education department has ordered the provisional shutting of 47 residential high schools across the country.

President Bola Tinubu has called off international engagements, including attendance at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to concentrate on addressing the emergency.

Latest Security Events

The educational institution kidnappings represent the latest in a sequence of safety incidents that have rocked the country, including an assault on a place of worship in western Nigeria where assailants shot dead two people and seized many worshipers during a live-streamed service.

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

Historical Background

Nigeria continues to be scarred by the memory of the large-scale abduction of almost 300 female students by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a decade ago, with some of those girls still unaccounted for.

Eyewitness Accounts

In a concerning recording circulated by religious groups, a frightened employee recounted hearing the sounds of motorcycles and vehicles before hearing "violent banging" on various gates of the compound.

"Children were weeping," the staff member said, describing her fear while looking for keys to the section where the crying was most intense.

The regional Catholic diocese confirmed that the "assailants acted violently and uninterrupted for nearly three hours, moving through dormitories."

Citizen Response and Concerns

Meanwhile, about 600km away on the outskirts of Abuja, concerned guardians were collecting their students from educational institutions following the shutdown order.

One mother, a 40-year-old healthcare worker, voiced her shock at the magnitude of the kidnapping, questioning how 300 students could be taken simultaneously.

She concluded that the "government is not doing enough to address the security crisis," and expressed support for external assistance to "salvage this crisis."

Continuing Security Issues

For years, well-equipped bandit groups have been carrying out killings and kidnappings for ransom in rural areas of northwest and middle Nigeria, where state presence is limited.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the recent incidents, bandit gangs demanding ransom payments frequently attack schools in countryside locations where security is inadequate.

These groups maintain bases in extensive woodland areas straddling several states in western Nigeria.

While these bandits have no political motives and are primarily motivated by monetary profit, their growing alliance with jihadist groups from the north-east has become a significant cause of concern for authorities and security analysts alike.