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Gunmen have seized in excess of 300 pupils and educators in what appears to be the biggest mass kidnappings in recent Nigerian times, according to a Christian organization on the weekend.

Growing Emergency in Educational Facilities

The pre-dawn Friday assault on St Mary's mixed-gender school in western Nigeria came just a short time after gunmen attacked a secondary school in adjacent Kebbi state, abducting 25 female students.

Earlier reports had stated 227 individuals were taken, but new numbers were released after a thorough verification exercise confirmed that 303 students and 12 instructors had been kidnapped.

The taken students, ranging between eight and 18 years, constitute nearly 50 percent of the school's total student population of 629.

Official Response and Safety Measures

State authorities have stated that intelligence agencies and law enforcement are currently conducting a comprehensive head count to verify the precise number of missing individuals.

In response to the increasing safety fears, the state government has mandated the shutting of every schools in the region, with neighboring states following similar preventive steps.

Additionally, the national education department has ordered the temporary shutting of 47 boarding secondary schools throughout the country.

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

Latest Security Events

The school abductions represent the latest in a series of safety incidents that have shaken the country, including an attack on a place of worship in western Nigeria where assailants shot dead two people and abducted dozens congregation members during a live-streamed service.

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

Historical Context

Nigeria remains scarred by the memory of the large-scale kidnapping of almost 300 schoolgirls by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a ten years ago, with several of those girls still unaccounted for.

Firsthand Testimonies

In a concerning video clip shared by Christian groups, a distraught school staff member recounted hearing the noise of bikes and cars before experiencing "violent banging" on multiple entrances of the school premises.

"Students were crying," the staff member said, describing her fear while searching for access to the section where the crying was loudest.

The local Catholic authority confirmed that the "assailants acted aggressively and without interruption for nearly three hours, searching sleeping quarters."

Public Reaction and Fears

Meanwhile, about 600km away on the periphery of Abuja, worried parents were collecting their students from educational institutions following the closure directive.

One mother, a 40-year-old nurse, expressed her shock at the scale of the kidnapping, asking how 300 students could be taken at once.

She stated that the "authorities is failing to act to curb the security crisis," and voiced approval for international intervention to "salvage this situation."

Ongoing Security Issues

For years, heavily armed criminal gangs have been conducting killings and abductions for money in rural areas of northern and middle Nigeria, where government control is minimal.

While nobody has taken credit for the recent attacks, bandit gangs seeking financial compensation often target schools in countryside locations where security is weak.

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

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