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Gunmen have kidnapped over 300 schoolchildren and staff in one of the biggest group abductions in modern Nigerian history, as stated by a religious organization on Saturday.

Escalating Emergency in School Institutions

The Friday morning assault on St Mary's mixed-gender school in Niger state occurred just a short time after armed men invaded a secondary school in adjacent Kebbi state, abducting 25 young women.

Initial accounts had suggested 227 individuals were seized, but new numbers emerged after a detailed verification exercise established that 303 pupils and 12 educators had been kidnapped.

The abducted pupils, aged between eight and 18 years, constitute nearly half of the school's overall enrollment of 629.

Government Response and Security Measures

Local officials have announced that security agencies and law enforcement are presently performing a thorough head count to determine the precise number of missing people.

In response to the growing security concerns, the local authorities has mandated the closure of every schools in the state, with neighboring states adopting comparable precautionary actions.

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

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

Recent Security Events

The school kidnappings constitute the latest in a series of safety breaches that have rocked the nation, including an attack on a place of worship in the west of Nigeria where gunmen shot dead two people and seized dozens worshipers during a online broadcast service.

These events have occurred against the backdrop of global focus on Nigeria's security situation.

Historical Context

Nigeria continues to be traumatized by the legacy of the mass abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a decade ago, with some of those girls still missing.

Firsthand Accounts

In a disturbing recording shared by religious organizations, a frightened employee recounted hearing the noise of motorcycles and cars before experiencing "violent banging" on various gates of the school premises.

"Children were weeping," the witness stated, describing her panic while searching for keys to the section where the screaming was loudest.

The local Catholic authority confirmed that the "assailants operated aggressively and uninterrupted for almost three hours, searching sleeping quarters."

Citizen Response and Concerns

Meanwhile, about 600km away on the periphery of Abuja, concerned guardians were picking up their students from educational institutions following the shutdown directive.

One mother, a 40-year-old nurse, voiced her shock at the magnitude of the kidnapping, asking how 300 children could be abducted at once.

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

Ongoing Safety Issues

For a long time, heavily armed bandit groups have been conducting killings and abductions for ransom in rural areas of northern and middle Nigeria, where government control is limited.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the latest incidents, criminal groups demanding financial compensation often attack schools in countryside locations where protection is weak.

These gangs maintain bases in vast woodland areas spanning multiple states in western Nigeria.

Although these criminals have no ideological leanings and are mainly driven by monetary profit, their growing alliance with jihadist groups from the northeastern region has become a significant source of worry for authorities and security analysts alike.