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Armed attackers have seized over 300 students and teachers in what is considered the most significant mass kidnappings in modern Nigerian times, according to a Christian organization on the weekend.

Growing Emergency in Educational Institutions

The pre-dawn Friday assault on St Mary's co-educational school in western Nigeria happened just days after armed men attacked a high school in neighboring Kebbi state, taking 25 girls.

Initial reports had stated 227 individuals were seized, but revised figures surfaced after a detailed verification exercise established that 303 students and 12 instructors had been kidnapped.

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

Government Reaction and Safety Actions

Local authorities 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 safety fears, the local authorities has ordered the shutting of every schools in the region, with neighboring states adopting similar precautionary steps.

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

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

Recent Violent Events

The educational institution abductions constitute the most recent in a series of safety breaches that have rocked the nation, including an assault on a church in the west of Nigeria where assailants shot dead two people and seized numerous congregation members during a online broadcast service.

These events have occurred against the background of global attention 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 jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a decade ago, with some of those victims still unaccounted for.

Firsthand Accounts

In a disturbing video clip shared by Christian groups, a frightened employee recounted hearing the noise of motorcycles and vehicles before hearing "violent banging" on various entrances of the compound.

"Students were weeping," the staff member said, describing her panic while searching for access to the section where the screaming was loudest.

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

Citizen Response and Concerns

Meanwhile, about 600km away on the periphery of Abuja, concerned parents were picking up their children from schools following the shutdown order.

One mother, a 40-year-old nurse, voiced her shock at the magnitude of the abduction, asking how 300 students could be abducted simultaneously.

She stated that the "authorities is failing to act to address insecurity," and voiced approval for international assistance to "resolve this crisis."

Continuing Security Challenges

For a long time, heavily armed criminal gangs have been conducting killings and abductions for ransom in rural areas of northern and middle Nigeria, where government control is limited.

While nobody has claimed responsibility for the recent incidents, criminal groups demanding financial compensation often attack schools in rural areas where security is inadequate.

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

Although these criminals have no ideological leanings and are mainly motivated by monetary profit, their growing alliance with extremist groups from the northeastern region has become a significant source of worry for authorities and security analysts alike.