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Gunmen have kidnapped over 300 pupils and educators in one of the biggest collective seizures in recent Nigerian experience, as reported by a religious organization on Saturday.

Escalating Emergency in Educational Institutions

The pre-dawn Friday attack on St Mary's mixed-gender school in Niger state occurred just days after gunmen stormed a secondary school in neighboring Kebbi state, abducting 25 female students.

Earlier accounts had indicated 227 individuals were taken, but updated figures surfaced after a comprehensive verification exercise determined that 303 students and 12 educators had been abducted.

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

Government Response and Security Measures

Local authorities have stated that intelligence agencies and law enforcement are currently conducting a thorough assessment to verify the exact number of missing individuals.

In reaction to the increasing security concerns, the local authorities has mandated the closure of all schools in the region, with nearby states following similar preventive actions.

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

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

Latest Security Events

The school abductions constitute the latest in a sequence of safety breaches that have rocked the nation, including an assault on a church in western Nigeria where gunmen shot dead two people and abducted dozens congregation members during a live-streamed service.

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

Past Context

Nigeria continues to be scarred by the memory of the mass kidnapping of nearly 300 female students by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a decade ago, with several of those girls still unaccounted for.

Firsthand Accounts

In a disturbing video clip shared by religious organizations, a frightened school staff member described hearing the noise of bikes and cars before experiencing "forceful banging" on various entrances of the compound.

"Children were weeping," the witness reported, recounting her panic while looking for access to the area where the crying was most intense.

The regional Catholic diocese stated that the "assailants operated violently and without interruption for almost three hours, searching dormitories."

Citizen Response and Concerns

Meanwhile, about 600km away on the outskirts of Abuja, concerned guardians were picking up their children from educational institutions following the shutdown directive.

One parent, a 40-year-old nurse, expressed her disbelief at the magnitude of the abduction, asking how 300 children could be taken simultaneously.

She concluded that the "authorities is failing to act to combat insecurity," and expressed support for international assistance to "resolve this situation."

Ongoing Safety Issues

For years, heavily armed bandit groups have been carrying out murders and abductions for ransom in remote areas of northern and middle Nigeria, where government control is minimal.

While no group has taken credit for the recent incidents, bandit gangs demanding financial compensation often target schools in rural areas where security is weak.

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

Although these criminals have no political motives and are primarily driven by financial gain, their growing cooperation with jihadist groups from the northeastern region has become a major cause of worry for authorities and experts alike.