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Armed attackers have seized more than 300 schoolchildren and staff in what is considered the biggest group abductions in modern Nigerian history, as reported by a Christian organization on the weekend.

Escalating Crisis in Educational Institutions

The pre-dawn Friday raid on St Mary's co-educational school in western Nigeria happened just days after gunmen invaded a secondary school in neighboring Kebbi state, seizing 25 female students.

Initial reports had indicated 227 individuals were taken, but new figures emerged after a detailed counting process confirmed that 303 pupils and 12 instructors had been abducted.

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

Official Response and Safety Actions

Local authorities have stated that security departments and police are currently conducting a comprehensive head count to establish the exact number of missing individuals.

In reaction to the growing security fears, the local authorities has directed the shutting of every schools in the region, with nearby states adopting comparable preventive measures.

Additionally, the national education ministry has ordered the provisional closure of 47 residential high schools throughout the country.

President Bola Tinubu has postponed international commitments, including attendance at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to concentrate on addressing the crisis.

Recent Violent Incidents

The school kidnappings represent the latest in a sequence of security breaches that have rocked the nation, including an assault on a church in the west of Nigeria where gunmen shot dead two individuals and abducted many congregation members during a live-streamed service.

These incidents have occurred against the backdrop of global focus on Nigeria's security situation.

Historical Background

Nigeria continues to be scarred by the legacy of the large-scale kidnapping of almost 300 schoolgirls by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a decade ago, with several of those victims still unaccounted for.

Eyewitness Testimonies

In a disturbing video clip shared by religious groups, a frightened school staff member recounted hearing the noise of bikes and vehicles before hearing "forceful banging" on multiple entrances of the compound.

"Children were screaming," the witness said, recounting her panic while searching for keys to the section where the screaming was most intense.

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

Citizen Reaction and Concerns

At the same time, about 600km away on the periphery of Abuja, concerned parents were collecting their students from educational institutions following the closure directive.

One mother, a 40-year-old nurse, voiced her shock at the magnitude of the abduction, questioning how 300 children could be taken at once.

She concluded that the "government is failing to act to address the security crisis," and voiced support for external assistance to "resolve this crisis."

Continuing Security Issues

For years, heavily armed bandit groups have been carrying out murders and kidnappings for money in rural areas of northern and middle Nigeria, where state presence is minimal.

While nobody has taken credit for the recent incidents, criminal groups demanding ransom payments frequently attack schools in countryside locations where protection is inadequate.

These groups maintain camps in extensive forest areas straddling multiple states in western Nigeria.

While these criminals have no ideological leanings and are primarily motivated by monetary profit, their growing alliance with extremist groups from the north-east has become a significant source of worry for authorities and experts alike.