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Armed attackers have kidnapped more than 300 pupils and educators in what appears to be the most significant mass kidnappings in modern Nigerian experience, as reported by a Christian organization on the weekend.

Escalating Crisis in School Institutions

The Friday morning attack on St Mary's co-educational school in western Nigeria came just days after gunmen invaded a secondary school in neighboring Kebbi state, seizing 25 girls.

Earlier reports had indicated 227 victims were seized, but revised figures emerged after a comprehensive counting process determined that 303 pupils and 12 teachers had been kidnapped.

The kidnapped students, ranging between eight and 18 years, account for nearly half of the school's total student population of 629.

Official Response and Security Actions

State authorities have confirmed that intelligence departments and law enforcement are currently conducting a comprehensive head count to verify the precise number of missing individuals.

In response to the increasing safety fears, the state government has ordered the shutting of all schools in the state, with nearby states following similar preventive steps.

Furthermore, the national education ministry has ordered the provisional shutting of 47 boarding secondary schools across the country.

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

Recent Security Incidents

The educational institution kidnappings constitute the latest in a series of security breaches that have rocked the nation, including an attack on a church in western Nigeria where assailants shot dead two individuals and seized dozens worshipers during a online broadcast service.

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

Past Context

Nigeria remains scarred by the memory of the mass kidnapping of nearly 300 schoolgirls by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a ten years ago, with some of those victims still missing.

Eyewitness Testimonies

In a concerning video clip shared by Christian groups, a distraught worker described hearing the sounds of motorcycles and vehicles before hearing "forceful banging" on various entrances of the compound.

"Students were screaming," the staff member reported, recounting her fear while searching for keys to the area where the screaming was most intense.

The local Catholic diocese confirmed that the "attackers acted aggressively and uninterrupted for almost three hours, moving through dormitories."

Citizen Response and Concerns

At the same time, about 600km away on the periphery of Abuja, concerned parents were collecting their students from educational institutions following the closure directive.

One parent, a 40-year-old nurse, voiced her shock at the scale of the abduction, asking how 300 children could be taken simultaneously.

She concluded that the "authorities is not doing enough to curb insecurity," and voiced approval for external assistance to "resolve this situation."

Continuing Safety Issues

For years, heavily armed criminal gangs have been conducting murders and kidnappings for ransom in rural areas of northwest and central Nigeria, where government control is limited.

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

These gangs maintain bases in extensive woodland areas spanning several states in western Nigeria.

While these criminals have no political motives and are primarily motivated by financial gain, their increasing cooperation with extremist groups from the north-east has become a major cause of concern for officials and security analysts alike.