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Armed attackers have seized in excess of 300 pupils and educators in what appears to be the largest group abductions in recent Nigerian history, according to a religious organization on Saturday.

Growing Crisis in School Facilities

The Friday morning raid on St Mary's co-educational school in Niger state occurred just a short time after armed men invaded a high school in adjacent Kebbi state, taking 25 female students.

Initial reports had suggested 227 individuals were taken, but new figures emerged after a thorough verification exercise confirmed that 303 students and 12 instructors had been abducted.

The abducted children, ranging between eight and 18 years, account for nearly half of the school's overall enrollment of 629.

Official Reaction and Security Measures

State authorities have stated that security departments and law enforcement are presently performing a comprehensive head count to verify the exact number of missing individuals.

In response to the increasing security fears, the state government has ordered the shutting of all schools in the region, with nearby states following comparable precautionary measures.

Additionally, the national education ministry has ordered the provisional 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 handling the emergency.

Recent Violent Events

The educational institution abductions constitute the latest in a series of safety incidents that have shaken the country, including an attack on a church in western Nigeria where assailants shot dead two individuals and seized numerous congregation members during a online broadcast service.

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

Past Background

Nigeria remains traumatized by the memory of the mass kidnapping of almost 300 female students by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a decade ago, with some of those girls still missing.

Firsthand Accounts

In a disturbing video clip shared by religious organizations, a frightened employee described hearing the sounds of bikes and cars before experiencing "forceful banging" on multiple gates of the school premises.

"Students were screaming," the witness reported, describing her fear while searching for keys to the section where the crying was loudest.

The regional Catholic diocese confirmed that the "assailants operated violently and uninterrupted for nearly three hours, searching sleeping quarters."

Public Reaction and Fears

At the same time, about 600km away on the outskirts of Abuja, worried guardians were picking up their students from schools following the shutdown directive.

One parent, a 40-year-old nurse, expressed her shock at the magnitude of the kidnapping, questioning how 300 children could be taken at once.

She stated that the "authorities is not doing enough to combat the security crisis," and expressed approval for international intervention to "resolve this situation."

Continuing Security Challenges

For a long time, heavily armed bandit groups have been carrying out murders and abductions for money in rural areas of northwest and middle Nigeria, where state presence is limited.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the recent attacks, criminal groups seeking ransom payments frequently target schools in rural areas where protection is inadequate.

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

While these bandits have no ideological leanings and are primarily driven by monetary profit, their growing cooperation with extremist groups from the north-east has become a significant source of worry for authorities and security analysts alike.