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Gunmen have abducted over 300 schoolchildren and staff in what appears to be the biggest collective seizures in recent Nigerian experience, as stated by a religious organization on the weekend.

Growing Emergency in School Institutions

The pre-dawn Friday raid on St Mary's co-educational school in western Nigeria happened just days after gunmen invaded a high school in adjacent Kebbi state, seizing 25 young women.

Initial reports had stated 227 victims were seized, but revised figures surfaced after a comprehensive counting process established that 303 students and 12 teachers had been abducted.

The kidnapped students, aged between eight and 18 years, account for nearly half of the school's overall enrollment of 629.

Government Response and Security Measures

Local authorities have announced that security departments and law enforcement are presently performing a thorough assessment to establish the precise number of missing individuals.

In response to the growing safety fears, the state government has ordered the shutting of every schools in the region, with neighboring states following similar precautionary measures.

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

President Bola Tinubu has called off overseas commitments, including attendance at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to concentrate on managing the emergency.

Recent Violent Incidents

The school abductions represent the latest in a series of safety incidents that have rocked the country, including an attack on a church in western Nigeria where assailants killed two people and abducted numerous worshipers during a live-streamed service.

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

Historical Background

Nigeria remains scarred by the memory of the mass abduction of almost 300 female students by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a decade ago, with some of those victims still unaccounted for.

Eyewitness Accounts

In a concerning video clip circulated by religious groups, a upset school staff member recounted hearing the noise of motorcycles and cars before experiencing "violent banging" on multiple gates of the compound.

"Students were crying," the witness stated, recounting her terror while searching for keys to the area where the crying was loudest.

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

Citizen Response and Fears

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

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

She stated that the "government is not doing enough to combat insecurity," and voiced approval for international intervention to "salvage this crisis."

Continuing Security Challenges

For years, well-equipped criminal gangs have been conducting murders and abductions for ransom in rural areas of northern and middle Nigeria, where state presence is minimal.

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

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

Although these criminals have no political motives and are primarily driven by monetary profit, their increasing cooperation with jihadist groups from the northeastern region has become a major source of concern for officials and security analysts alike.