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Gunmen have kidnapped more than 300 schoolchildren and staff in what appears to be the most significant collective seizures in recent Nigerian history, as stated by a religious organization on the weekend.

Escalating Crisis in Educational Institutions

The pre-dawn Friday raid on St Mary's mixed-gender school in western Nigeria happened just days after armed men stormed a high school in neighboring Kebbi state, taking 25 girls.

Initial reports had stated 227 victims were seized, but new numbers surfaced after a comprehensive verification exercise determined that 303 students and 12 instructors had been abducted.

The taken children, aged between eight and 18 years, represent nearly half of the school's total enrollment of 629.

Government Reaction and Security Measures

State officials have announced that intelligence departments and police are currently performing a thorough census to establish the precise number of missing people.

In response to the growing safety concerns, the local authorities has ordered the shutting of all schools in the region, with neighboring states adopting similar preventive measures.

Additionally, the federal education ministry has directed the provisional shutting of 47 residential high schools throughout the country.

President Bola Tinubu has postponed overseas commitments, including participation at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to concentrate on managing the situation.

Latest Security Events

The school abductions constitute the most recent in a sequence of safety incidents that have rocked the nation, including an attack on a place of worship in western Nigeria where gunmen shot dead two individuals and abducted many congregation members during a live-streamed service.

These incidents have occurred against the background of international focus on Nigeria's safety situation.

Past Context

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

Eyewitness Accounts

In a concerning recording circulated by Christian organizations, a distraught employee described hearing the sounds of bikes and cars before hearing "forceful banging" on various gates of the compound.

"Students were weeping," the staff member stated, describing her terror while looking for access to the section where the crying was loudest.

The regional Catholic diocese confirmed that the "assailants operated violently and without interruption for nearly three hours, moving through dormitories."

Citizen Reaction and Concerns

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

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

She stated that the "government is not doing enough to combat insecurity," and voiced support for external assistance to "resolve this crisis."

Ongoing Safety Issues

For a long time, well-equipped bandit groups have been conducting murders and abductions for money in remote areas of northwest and central Nigeria, where state presence is limited.

While nobody has claimed responsibility for the latest incidents, criminal groups seeking financial compensation frequently attack schools in countryside locations where security is inadequate.

These gangs maintain bases in extensive woodland areas straddling multiple states in the west of Nigeria.

While these criminals have no political motives and are mainly driven by monetary profit, their growing cooperation with jihadist groups from the northeastern region has become a significant source of worry for authorities and security analysts alike.