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Gunmen have seized more than 300 students and teachers in one of the largest collective seizures in recent Nigerian experience, as reported by a Christian organization on the weekend.

Growing Crisis in Educational Facilities

The early Friday raid on St Mary's co-educational school in western Nigeria occurred just days after armed men invaded a secondary school in adjacent Kebbi state, taking 25 girls.

Initial accounts had suggested 227 individuals were seized, but revised figures were released after a comprehensive counting process established that 303 students and 12 instructors had been abducted.

The taken students, aged between eight and 18 years, represent nearly 50 percent of the school's total enrollment of 629.

Government Response and Security Actions

State authorities have announced that security agencies and law enforcement are presently performing a thorough assessment to establish the exact number of missing individuals.

In reaction to the growing safety concerns, the state government has ordered the shutting of all schools in the region, with nearby states adopting comparable preventive steps.

Additionally, the national education department has ordered the temporary shutting of 47 boarding secondary schools throughout the country.

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

Latest Security Events

The educational institution kidnappings represent the most recent in a series of security breaches that have rocked the country, including an attack on a church in western Nigeria where assailants killed two people and seized dozens worshipers during a online broadcast service.

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

Historical Context

Nigeria remains traumatized by the legacy of the large-scale abduction of almost 300 schoolgirls by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a decade ago, with several of those girls still unaccounted for.

Firsthand Testimonies

In a concerning video clip shared by Christian organizations, a frightened employee described hearing the noise of bikes and cars before experiencing "forceful banging" on multiple entrances of the school premises.

"Students were screaming," the witness reported, describing her terror while looking for keys to the area where the screaming was most intense.

The local Catholic diocese stated that the "assailants acted violently and without interruption for nearly three hours, moving through dormitories."

Citizen Response and Concerns

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

One parent, a 40-year-old nurse, expressed her disbelief at the scale of the kidnapping, asking how 300 children could be abducted at once.

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

Continuing Safety Issues

For a long time, well-equipped bandit groups have been carrying out murders and kidnappings for ransom in rural areas of northern and middle Nigeria, where state presence is minimal.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the latest incidents, criminal groups seeking financial compensation frequently target schools in rural areas where security is inadequate.

These gangs maintain bases in extensive woodland areas spanning several states in the west of Nigeria.

Although these bandits have no ideological leanings and are primarily motivated by monetary profit, their increasing cooperation with extremist groups from the northeastern region has become a major cause of concern for officials and experts alike.