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Armed attackers have abducted over 300 students and teachers in what is considered the biggest mass kidnappings in recent Nigerian times, according to a Christian organization on the weekend.

Growing Emergency in Educational Institutions

The early Friday raid on St Mary's co-educational school in western Nigeria happened just days after gunmen attacked a high school in adjacent Kebbi state, seizing 25 young women.

Initial accounts had stated 227 victims were taken, but updated figures were released after a detailed assessment confirmed that 303 students and 12 educators had been kidnapped.

The taken children, aged between eight and 18 years, represent nearly half of the school's total student population of 629.

Official Response and Safety Measures

State authorities have stated that intelligence departments and law enforcement are currently conducting a thorough census to establish the precise number of missing people.

In reaction to the growing security concerns, the local authorities has directed the shutting of every schools in the state, with neighboring states following comparable preventive steps.

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

President Bola Tinubu has cancelled international engagements, including participation at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to concentrate on handling the situation.

Recent Violent Events

The school abductions constitute the most recent in a series of safety incidents that have shaken the nation, including an assault on a church in the west of Nigeria where assailants killed two individuals and seized numerous worshipers during a live-streamed service.

These incidents have occurred against the background of international focus on Nigeria's safety situation.

Historical Context

Nigeria remains scarred by the memory of the mass kidnapping of almost 300 schoolgirls by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a decade ago, with several of those girls still missing.

Firsthand Accounts

In a disturbing recording circulated by Christian groups, a distraught worker recounted hearing the sounds of motorcycles and vehicles before hearing "forceful banging" on multiple gates of the compound.

"Children were crying," the staff member stated, describing her terror while searching for keys to the section where the crying was loudest.

The local Catholic diocese confirmed that the "assailants operated aggressively and uninterrupted for nearly three hours, moving through sleeping quarters."

Citizen Reaction and Fears

At the same time, about 600km away on the periphery of Abuja, concerned guardians were collecting their children from schools following the closure directive.

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

She concluded that the "authorities is failing to act to combat insecurity," and voiced approval for international assistance to "resolve this crisis."

Ongoing Safety Challenges

For years, well-equipped bandit groups have been carrying out murders and abductions for ransom in remote areas of northwest and central Nigeria, where government control is limited.

While nobody has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks, criminal groups demanding ransom payments often attack schools in countryside locations where protection is inadequate.

These groups maintain camps in vast woodland areas straddling multiple states in western Nigeria.

While these bandits have no political motives and are mainly driven by monetary profit, their growing cooperation with jihadist groups from the northeastern region has become a major source of concern for authorities and security analysts alike.