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Armed attackers have abducted over 300 pupils and educators in what is considered the largest mass kidnappings in modern Nigerian times, as reported by a religious organization on Saturday.

Escalating Emergency in Educational Facilities

The pre-dawn Friday assault on St Mary's mixed-gender school in Niger state occurred just days after armed men attacked a high school in adjacent Kebbi state, abducting 25 young women.

Earlier accounts had stated 227 victims were taken, but updated numbers were released after a detailed assessment established that 303 students and 12 teachers had been kidnapped.

The abducted students, aged between eight and 18 years, account for nearly half of the school's total student population of 629.

Government Reaction and Safety Actions

State authorities have confirmed that intelligence agencies and police are presently performing a comprehensive head count to verify the exact number of missing individuals.

In response to the growing security concerns, the local authorities has mandated the closure of all schools in the state, with nearby states following comparable precautionary steps.

Additionally, the federal education ministry has directed the temporary closure of 47 boarding secondary schools across the country.

President Bola Tinubu has postponed international engagements, including attendance at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to focus on managing the situation.

Recent Security Events

The school abductions represent the most recent in a sequence of security breaches that have shaken the nation, including an attack on a church in the west of Nigeria where gunmen killed two individuals and seized numerous congregation members during a online broadcast service.

These events have occurred against the background of global attention on Nigeria's safety situation.

Past Context

Nigeria remains scarred by the memory of the mass abduction of nearly 300 female students by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a ten years ago, with several of those victims still unaccounted for.

Firsthand Testimonies

In a disturbing video clip shared by religious organizations, a upset school staff member described hearing the noise of motorcycles and cars before experiencing "violent banging" on various entrances of the school premises.

"Children were crying," the witness stated, recounting her fear while searching for keys to the section where the crying was loudest.

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

Citizen Response and Fears

At the same time, about 600km away on the periphery of Abuja, worried guardians were picking up their children from schools following the closure order.

One parent, a 40-year-old nurse, expressed her shock at the magnitude of the abduction, questioning how 300 children could be taken at once.

She concluded that the "government is failing to act to combat the security crisis," and voiced support for external intervention to "salvage this situation."

Continuing Safety Issues

For a long time, heavily armed criminal gangs have been conducting murders and kidnappings for ransom in remote areas of northern and middle Nigeria, where government control is minimal.

While no group has taken credit for the latest attacks, bandit gangs seeking ransom payments frequently target schools in rural areas where protection is inadequate.

These gangs maintain bases in extensive woodland areas straddling multiple states in western Nigeria.

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