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Gunmen have seized more than 300 students and teachers in what is considered the biggest mass kidnappings in modern Nigerian times, according to a Christian organization on Saturday.

Escalating Emergency in School Facilities

The early Friday attack on St Mary's mixed-gender school in western Nigeria happened just a short time after armed men stormed a secondary school in adjacent Kebbi state, abducting 25 girls.

Earlier accounts had suggested 227 individuals were taken, but new numbers were released after a thorough assessment confirmed that 303 pupils and 12 instructors had been kidnapped.

The taken children, aged between eight and 18 years, represent nearly 50 percent of the school's overall enrollment of 629.

Official Response and Safety Measures

State officials have announced that intelligence departments and law enforcement are presently performing a thorough head count to determine the precise number of abducted people.

In reaction to the increasing security fears, the local authorities has directed the closure of every schools in the region, with neighboring states adopting comparable preventive actions.

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

President Bola Tinubu has called off international engagements, including participation at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to focus on managing the emergency.

Latest Violent Incidents

The educational institution kidnappings represent the most recent in a series of security incidents that have rocked the nation, including an attack on a place of worship in western Nigeria where gunmen killed two individuals and seized numerous worshipers during a online broadcast service.

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

Historical Context

Nigeria continues to be scarred by the memory of the large-scale kidnapping of almost 300 female students by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a ten years ago, with some of those girls still missing.

Eyewitness Accounts

In a disturbing recording shared by Christian organizations, a distraught employee described hearing the noise of motorcycles and vehicles before experiencing "violent banging" on various entrances of the school premises.

"Students were weeping," the staff member reported, describing her fear while searching for keys to the area where the screaming was loudest.

The regional Catholic diocese stated that the "assailants acted aggressively and without interruption for almost three hours, moving through sleeping quarters."

Public Reaction and Concerns

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

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

She concluded that the "government is failing to act to combat insecurity," and expressed approval for external assistance to "resolve this situation."

Continuing Safety Challenges

For years, well-equipped criminal gangs have been conducting killings and abductions for money in rural areas of northwest and central Nigeria, where government control is limited.

While nobody has taken credit for the latest attacks, criminal groups demanding ransom payments frequently target schools in countryside locations where security is weak.

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

Although these bandits have no ideological leanings and are primarily motivated by monetary profit, their growing cooperation with extremist groups from the northeastern region has become a major cause of concern for authorities and experts alike.