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Armed attackers have abducted in excess of 300 students and teachers in one of the largest collective seizures in modern Nigerian experience, as reported by a Christian organization on Saturday.

Escalating Emergency in School Institutions

The Friday morning raid on St Mary's mixed-gender school in Niger state happened just a short time after gunmen attacked a high school in neighboring Kebbi state, taking 25 young women.

Initial reports had suggested 227 individuals were taken, but new numbers were released after a thorough assessment determined that 303 pupils and 12 teachers had been kidnapped.

The taken students, ranging between eight and 18 years, account for nearly 50 percent of the school's overall student body of 629.

Official Response and Safety Actions

State authorities have announced that security departments and law enforcement are currently conducting a comprehensive census to verify the precise number of missing individuals.

In reaction to the increasing safety fears, the state government has directed the shutting of all schools in the state, with nearby states following similar precautionary actions.

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

President Bola Tinubu has postponed overseas commitments, including participation at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to concentrate on managing the situation.

Recent Violent Incidents

The educational institution abductions represent the most recent in a series of safety incidents that have shaken the nation, including an assault on a church in western Nigeria where gunmen shot dead two individuals and abducted many worshipers during a live-streamed service.

These events have taken place against the background of global attention on Nigeria's safety situation.

Historical Context

Nigeria continues to be traumatized by the memory of the mass abduction of nearly 300 female students by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a decade ago, with several of those victims still unaccounted for.

Firsthand Testimonies

In a concerning video clip shared by religious organizations, a upset worker described hearing the sounds of bikes and cars before hearing "violent banging" on various gates of the school premises.

"Children were crying," the staff member said, recounting her panic while looking for keys to the section where the crying was loudest.

The local Catholic diocese confirmed that the "assailants acted aggressively and without interruption for nearly three hours, moving through dormitories."

Public Reaction and Concerns

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

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

She concluded that the "authorities is not doing enough to address insecurity," and voiced support for international intervention to "salvage this crisis."

Continuing Safety Issues

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

While no group has claimed responsibility for the latest incidents, criminal groups seeking ransom payments often attack schools in rural areas where protection is inadequate.

These gangs maintain camps in vast forest areas straddling several states in the west of Nigeria.

Although these criminals have no ideological leanings and are mainly motivated by financial gain, their increasing cooperation with extremist groups from the northeastern region has become a major source of concern for authorities and experts alike.