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Armed attackers have kidnapped over 300 pupils and educators in what is considered the biggest collective seizures in recent Nigerian times, as stated by a Christian organization on the weekend.

Escalating Emergency in School Facilities

The Friday morning assault on St Mary's co-educational school in Niger state came just days after gunmen invaded a secondary school in adjacent Kebbi state, taking 25 young women.

Earlier accounts had stated 227 individuals were taken, but new figures surfaced after a thorough counting process confirmed that 303 pupils and 12 educators had been kidnapped.

The kidnapped pupils, aged between eight and 18 years, constitute nearly 50 percent of the school's total student population of 629.

Official Reaction and Security Actions

Local authorities have announced that security departments and law enforcement are presently conducting a comprehensive census to verify the exact number of missing individuals.

In response to the increasing safety concerns, the state government has directed the closure of every schools in the state, with nearby states adopting similar precautionary actions.

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

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

Recent Violent Incidents

The school kidnappings constitute the most recent in a series of security incidents that have shaken the nation, including an attack on a place of worship in the west of Nigeria where gunmen killed two people and seized dozens congregation members during a online broadcast service.

These incidents have occurred against the backdrop of global focus on Nigeria's safety situation.

Historical Background

Nigeria continues to be scarred by the legacy of the mass abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a ten years ago, with several of those victims still missing.

Eyewitness Accounts

In a concerning video clip circulated by Christian organizations, a upset school staff member described hearing the sounds of bikes and cars before experiencing "forceful banging" on various gates of the compound.

"Children were crying," the staff member said, recounting her fear while looking for access to the section where the crying was loudest.

The local Catholic diocese confirmed that the "assailants operated aggressively and uninterrupted for almost three hours, searching dormitories."

Citizen Reaction and Concerns

At the same time, about 600km away on the outskirts of Abuja, concerned parents were collecting their students from schools following the shutdown directive.

One parent, a 40-year-old healthcare worker, expressed her shock at the scale of the abduction, asking how 300 students could be abducted simultaneously.

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

Continuing Safety Issues

For a long time, heavily armed criminal gangs have been conducting killings and kidnappings for money in remote areas of northern and central Nigeria, where government control is limited.

While nobody has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks, criminal groups seeking financial compensation often attack schools in countryside locations where protection is inadequate.

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

Although these criminals have no ideological leanings and are mainly driven by financial gain, their growing alliance with jihadist groups from the north-east has become a significant source of worry for officials and experts alike.