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Armed attackers have abducted over 300 schoolchildren and staff in what appears to be the most significant collective seizures in recent Nigerian experience, as reported by a Christian organization on Saturday.

Growing Emergency in Educational Institutions

The pre-dawn Friday attack on St Mary's co-educational school in western Nigeria came just a short time after armed men stormed a high school in neighboring Kebbi state, seizing 25 female students.

Initial reports had suggested 227 individuals were taken, but new figures were released after a detailed verification exercise determined that 303 students and 12 teachers had been kidnapped.

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

Official Reaction and Security Measures

Local officials have stated that security agencies and law enforcement are currently performing a comprehensive assessment to verify the exact number of abducted 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 comparable preventive actions.

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

President Bola Tinubu has called off overseas engagements, including participation at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to focus on handling the situation.

Recent Violent Incidents

The educational institution kidnappings represent the most recent in a sequence of safety breaches that have rocked the country, including an attack on a church in western Nigeria where assailants shot dead two individuals and seized numerous congregation members during a online broadcast service.

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

Past Background

Nigeria continues to be scarred by the memory of the large-scale kidnapping of nearly 300 schoolgirls by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a decade ago, with several of those victims still unaccounted for.

Firsthand Accounts

In a disturbing recording circulated by religious organizations, a upset worker described hearing the noise of bikes and vehicles before hearing "forceful banging" on multiple gates of the compound.

"Children were crying," the staff member stated, recounting her fear while looking for keys to the area where the screaming was loudest.

The regional Catholic authority confirmed that the "assailants operated violently and uninterrupted for nearly three hours, searching dormitories."

Citizen Reaction and Concerns

Meanwhile, about 600km away on the periphery of Abuja, worried guardians were picking up their children from educational institutions following the closure order.

One mother, a 40-year-old nurse, expressed her disbelief at the scale of the abduction, asking how 300 students could be taken simultaneously.

She stated that the "authorities is not doing enough to combat the security crisis," and expressed support for international intervention to "resolve this situation."

Ongoing Safety Challenges

For years, well-equipped criminal gangs have been carrying out killings and kidnappings for money in rural areas of northwest and central Nigeria, where state presence is minimal.

While nobody has taken credit for the latest incidents, criminal groups seeking financial compensation frequently target schools in countryside locations where protection is inadequate.

These gangs maintain camps in extensive woodland areas straddling several states in western Nigeria.

Although these bandits have no political motives and are primarily driven by financial gain, their increasing alliance with extremist groups from the northeastern region has become a major source of concern for authorities and experts alike.