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Armed attackers have abducted in excess of 300 schoolchildren and staff in what is considered the biggest collective seizures in recent Nigerian times, according to a Christian organization on Saturday.

Escalating Emergency in School Institutions

The Friday morning attack on St Mary's mixed-gender school in western Nigeria came just days after armed men invaded a secondary school in adjacent Kebbi state, taking 25 young women.

Initial accounts had suggested 227 individuals were taken, but updated figures were released after a thorough verification exercise confirmed that 303 pupils and 12 instructors had been kidnapped.

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

Government Reaction and Safety Measures

State officials have confirmed that intelligence agencies and law enforcement are currently performing a comprehensive assessment to determine the precise number of missing people.

In response to the increasing safety fears, the local authorities has mandated the shutting of all schools in the state, with nearby states following comparable preventive actions.

Additionally, the national education department has directed the provisional closure of 47 boarding secondary schools throughout the country.

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

Latest Security Events

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 assailants killed two individuals and abducted dozens congregation members during a online broadcast service.

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

Past Background

Nigeria remains scarred by the memory of the large-scale abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a ten years ago, with some of those girls still missing.

Eyewitness Accounts

In a disturbing video clip circulated by Christian organizations, a distraught school staff member recounted hearing the noise of bikes and cars before hearing "violent banging" on multiple entrances of the compound.

"Students were screaming," the witness stated, recounting her fear while searching for keys to the section where the screaming was loudest.

The regional Catholic authority stated that the "attackers operated aggressively and uninterrupted for almost three hours, searching dormitories."

Citizen Reaction and Concerns

At the same time, about 600km away on the periphery of Abuja, worried guardians were collecting their students from educational institutions following the closure order.

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

She concluded that the "government is not doing enough to combat insecurity," and expressed support for external intervention to "resolve this situation."

Ongoing Security Challenges

For a long time, well-equipped criminal gangs have been conducting murders and abductions for ransom in rural areas of northwest and middle Nigeria, where state presence is minimal.

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

These groups maintain camps in vast woodland areas spanning several states in the west of Nigeria.

While these bandits have no ideological leanings and are mainly motivated by financial gain, their increasing cooperation with jihadist groups from the northeastern region has become a significant cause of worry for officials and experts alike.