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Gunmen have kidnapped more than 300 schoolchildren and staff in what appears to be the most significant group abductions in modern Nigerian history, according to a religious organization on the weekend.

Growing Crisis in School Facilities

The early Friday assault on St Mary's mixed-gender school in Niger state happened just a short time after armed men invaded a high school in adjacent Kebbi state, taking 25 young women.

Earlier accounts had indicated 227 victims were taken, but updated numbers were released after a comprehensive counting process confirmed that 303 pupils and 12 instructors had been kidnapped.

The taken children, aged between eight and 18 years, account for nearly half of the school's total enrollment of 629.

Official Response and Security Measures

State authorities have announced that security departments and police are presently performing a thorough assessment to verify the precise number of abducted individuals.

In response to the growing security concerns, the local authorities has mandated the closure of all schools in the state, with nearby states following similar precautionary actions.

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

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

Latest Security Events

The educational institution kidnappings constitute the most recent in a series of safety incidents that have rocked the country, including an attack on a church in western Nigeria where gunmen killed two people and seized dozens congregation members during a live-streamed service.

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

Historical Background

Nigeria remains traumatized by the legacy of the large-scale kidnapping of nearly 300 female students by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a ten years ago, with several of those girls still unaccounted for.

Firsthand Accounts

In a disturbing video clip circulated by religious groups, a distraught employee recounted hearing the sounds of bikes and vehicles before experiencing "forceful banging" on multiple entrances of the compound.

"Children were crying," the witness reported, describing her terror while looking for access to the area where the screaming was loudest.

The local Catholic diocese confirmed that the "attackers operated aggressively and uninterrupted for nearly three hours, moving through sleeping quarters."

Public Response and Fears

Meanwhile, about 600km away on the periphery of Abuja, worried guardians were picking up their children from educational institutions following the closure directive.

One parent, a 40-year-old healthcare worker, voiced her shock at the scale of the abduction, asking how 300 children could be taken at once.

She concluded that the "authorities is not doing enough to curb insecurity," and expressed approval for international assistance to "resolve this situation."

Ongoing Safety Challenges

For a long time, heavily armed criminal gangs have been conducting murders and abductions for money in rural areas of northwest and middle Nigeria, where state presence is limited.

While nobody has claimed responsibility for the latest incidents, bandit gangs demanding financial compensation often target schools in rural areas where protection is inadequate.

These gangs maintain camps in vast forest areas spanning multiple states in the west of Nigeria.

Although these criminals have no ideological leanings and are primarily motivated by monetary profit, their increasing alliance with extremist groups from the north-east has become a significant cause of concern for officials and experts alike.