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Gunmen have abducted over 300 pupils and educators in what appears to be the most significant group abductions in recent Nigerian times, according to a Christian organization on Saturday.

Escalating Emergency in Educational Institutions

The pre-dawn Friday raid on St Mary's co-educational school in western Nigeria came just a short time after armed men stormed a high school in neighboring Kebbi state, taking 25 female students.

Initial reports had stated 227 individuals were taken, but revised numbers emerged after a thorough verification exercise determined that 303 students and 12 teachers had been abducted.

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

Government Reaction and Safety Measures

Local authorities have stated that intelligence agencies and law enforcement are presently performing a comprehensive head count to establish the precise number of missing individuals.

In reaction to the increasing security concerns, the local authorities has mandated the closure of all schools in the state, with neighboring states adopting comparable preventive actions.

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

President Bola Tinubu has called off overseas engagements, including participation at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to concentrate on handling the situation.

Latest Security Events

The educational institution kidnappings represent the most recent in a series of safety incidents that have shaken the country, including an assault on a place of worship in the west of Nigeria where assailants shot dead two individuals and abducted dozens congregation members during a online broadcast service.

These incidents have occurred against the background of global attention on Nigeria's security situation.

Past Context

Nigeria continues to be traumatized by the memory of the large-scale abduction of almost 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 Testimonies

In a disturbing recording shared by Christian groups, a frightened employee recounted hearing the sounds of motorcycles and cars before hearing "forceful banging" on various entrances of the school premises.

"Students were weeping," the witness reported, describing her panic while looking for access to the section where the crying was loudest.

The regional Catholic authority stated that the "assailants operated aggressively and without interruption for almost three hours, searching sleeping quarters."

Citizen Reaction and Fears

Meanwhile, about 600km away on the periphery of Abuja, concerned guardians were collecting their children from schools following the closure directive.

One mother, a 40-year-old healthcare worker, expressed her shock at the scale of the abduction, questioning how 300 students could be abducted at once.

She stated that the "authorities is failing to act to combat the security crisis," and voiced support for international assistance to "resolve this crisis."

Continuing Safety Challenges

For a long time, heavily armed bandit groups have been carrying out killings and abductions for ransom in remote areas of northern and central Nigeria, where government control is minimal.

While no group has taken credit for the latest incidents, criminal groups demanding ransom payments often attack schools in countryside locations where security is weak.

These groups maintain bases in vast forest areas spanning multiple states in the west of Nigeria.

While these bandits have no ideological leanings and are primarily driven by financial gain, their increasing cooperation with jihadist groups from the northeastern region has become a major cause of concern for officials and experts alike.