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Gunmen have seized in excess of 300 schoolchildren and staff in what is considered the most significant group abductions in modern Nigerian experience, as reported by a Christian organization on Saturday.

Growing Emergency in Educational Facilities

The pre-dawn Friday assault on St Mary's co-educational school in western Nigeria happened just a short time after gunmen attacked a high school in neighboring Kebbi state, taking 25 young women.

Earlier accounts had indicated 227 individuals were taken, but updated figures emerged after a comprehensive assessment determined that 303 students and 12 instructors had been abducted.

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

Government Response and Safety Actions

State officials have announced that intelligence departments and police are currently conducting a comprehensive assessment to verify the precise number of missing people.

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

Furthermore, the federal education department has ordered the provisional shutting of 47 boarding secondary schools across the country.

President Bola Tinubu has postponed overseas engagements, including attendance at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to focus on handling the situation.

Recent Violent Events

The school abductions represent the latest in a sequence of security incidents that have shaken the nation, including an attack on a church in western Nigeria where gunmen killed two people and seized numerous congregation members during a live-streamed service.

These events have occurred against the backdrop of international attention on Nigeria's security situation.

Past Background

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

Eyewitness Testimonies

In a concerning video clip shared by Christian organizations, a frightened school staff member described hearing the noise of motorcycles and vehicles before hearing "violent banging" on multiple entrances of the compound.

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

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

Citizen Response and Fears

At the same time, about 600km away on the periphery of Abuja, concerned guardians were collecting their students from educational institutions following the shutdown order.

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

She concluded that the "authorities is not doing enough to address insecurity," and voiced approval for external assistance to "salvage this crisis."

Ongoing Safety Issues

For a long time, heavily armed criminal gangs have been conducting murders and abductions for money in remote areas of northern and middle Nigeria, where government control is minimal.

While nobody has claimed responsibility for the recent incidents, criminal groups seeking financial compensation often target schools in countryside locations where protection is inadequate.

These gangs maintain bases in extensive woodland areas spanning multiple states in western Nigeria.

Although these criminals have no political motives and are mainly motivated by monetary profit, their increasing cooperation with extremist groups from the north-east has become a major source of worry for officials and security analysts alike.