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Armed attackers have kidnapped in excess of 300 schoolchildren and staff in what is considered the most significant group abductions in recent Nigerian experience, as reported by a religious organization on Saturday.

Growing Crisis in Educational Facilities

The Friday morning attack on St Mary's mixed-gender school in Niger state happened just days after gunmen attacked a high school in neighboring Kebbi state, seizing 25 female students.

Earlier reports had stated 227 victims were taken, but new figures emerged after a detailed assessment established that 303 students and 12 educators had been abducted.

The kidnapped pupils, ranging between eight and 18 years, constitute nearly half of the school's overall student body of 629.

Government Reaction and Safety Measures

State authorities have announced that intelligence departments and law enforcement are presently conducting a thorough head count to verify the exact number of missing people.

In reaction to the growing security fears, the local authorities has mandated the closure of every schools in the region, with nearby states adopting comparable preventive measures.

Furthermore, the federal education ministry has ordered the temporary shutting of 47 boarding secondary schools throughout the country.

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

Latest Violent Events

The educational institution abductions constitute the most recent in a sequence of security breaches that have shaken the nation, including an assault on a church in the west of Nigeria where assailants shot dead two people and abducted dozens worshipers during a online broadcast service.

These incidents have taken place against the backdrop of international focus on Nigeria's safety situation.

Past Context

Nigeria remains traumatized by the memory of the large-scale kidnapping of almost 300 schoolgirls by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a decade ago, with several of those victims still unaccounted for.

Eyewitness Testimonies

In a disturbing recording shared by Christian organizations, a distraught worker recounted hearing the sounds of motorcycles and cars before hearing "violent banging" on multiple gates of the school premises.

"Students were screaming," the staff member said, describing her panic while looking for keys to the area where the screaming was loudest.

The regional Catholic diocese confirmed that the "attackers operated violently and without interruption for almost three hours, moving through sleeping quarters."

Citizen Reaction and Fears

At the same time, about 600km away on the periphery of Abuja, worried guardians were collecting their children from educational institutions following the shutdown directive.

One mother, a 40-year-old healthcare worker, voiced her disbelief at the scale of the abduction, asking how 300 students could be abducted simultaneously.

She concluded that the "authorities is not doing enough to combat insecurity," and expressed approval for international assistance to "salvage this crisis."

Ongoing Safety Challenges

For a long time, heavily armed criminal gangs have been carrying out murders and kidnappings for ransom in remote areas of northwest and middle Nigeria, where government control is limited.

While nobody has taken credit for the recent incidents, criminal groups demanding ransom payments frequently target schools in countryside locations where security is inadequate.

These groups maintain bases in vast forest areas straddling multiple states in the west of Nigeria.

Although 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 source of worry for authorities and security analysts alike.