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Armed attackers have kidnapped in excess of 300 students and teachers in what appears to be the most significant collective seizures in modern Nigerian experience, as stated by a Christian organization on Saturday.

Growing Crisis in School Facilities

The early Friday attack on St Mary's mixed-gender school in Niger state came just days after gunmen stormed a secondary school in neighboring Kebbi state, taking 25 girls.

Earlier reports had stated 227 individuals were seized, but new numbers emerged after a comprehensive assessment confirmed that 303 pupils and 12 educators had been abducted.

The kidnapped students, ranging between eight and 18 years, constitute nearly half of the school's overall student population of 629.

Official Response and Safety Actions

State officials have announced that security agencies and police are currently conducting a comprehensive head count to establish the exact number of missing individuals.

In response to the increasing safety concerns, the state government has ordered the shutting of all schools in the region, with neighboring states following comparable precautionary steps.

Furthermore, the national education department has directed the provisional closure of 47 boarding secondary schools throughout the country.

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

Latest Violent Incidents

The school abductions represent the most recent in a series of safety incidents that have rocked the nation, including an attack on a church in western Nigeria where assailants killed two individuals and abducted numerous congregation members during a live-streamed service.

These incidents have taken place against the backdrop of international attention on Nigeria's safety situation.

Past Context

Nigeria remains scarred by the legacy of the mass kidnapping of nearly 300 female students by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a decade ago, with some of those victims still missing.

Eyewitness Accounts

In a disturbing video clip circulated by Christian organizations, a upset worker described hearing the noise of motorcycles and vehicles before hearing "forceful banging" on multiple entrances of the school premises.

"Students were weeping," the witness reported, recounting her terror while searching for access to the section where the screaming was most intense.

The regional Catholic authority confirmed that the "attackers acted aggressively and without interruption for nearly three hours, searching sleeping quarters."

Citizen Response and Concerns

At the same time, about 600km away on the outskirts of Abuja, concerned guardians were picking up their students from educational institutions following the closure directive.

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

She concluded that the "authorities is not doing enough to curb the security crisis," and voiced approval for external intervention to "salvage this situation."

Ongoing Security Challenges

For years, heavily armed criminal gangs have been carrying out murders and abductions for money in remote areas of northern and central Nigeria, where state presence is limited.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the recent attacks, criminal groups demanding financial compensation often attack schools in countryside locations where protection is inadequate.

These gangs maintain camps in vast forest areas straddling several states in western Nigeria.

Although these criminals have no ideological leanings and are primarily motivated by financial gain, their growing cooperation with jihadist groups from the north-east has become a major source of worry for officials and security analysts alike.