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Gunmen have seized in excess of 300 students and teachers in what is considered the most significant collective seizures in modern Nigerian experience, according to a religious organization on the weekend.

Growing Crisis in School Facilities

The Friday morning attack on St Mary's mixed-gender school in Niger state occurred just days after armed men invaded a secondary school in neighboring Kebbi state, taking 25 girls.

Initial accounts had suggested 227 victims were seized, but revised figures emerged after a thorough assessment determined that 303 pupils and 12 educators had been kidnapped.

The abducted pupils, aged between eight and 18 years, constitute nearly 50 percent of the school's overall student body of 629.

Official Response and Security Measures

Local authorities have announced that security agencies and law enforcement are currently conducting a thorough head count to verify the precise number of missing people.

In response to the growing security concerns, the local authorities has ordered the closure of every schools in the region, with nearby states following comparable precautionary steps.

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

President Bola Tinubu has cancelled overseas commitments, including participation at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to concentrate on handling the crisis.

Latest Violent Events

The school abductions constitute the latest in a sequence of safety breaches that have shaken the nation, including an assault on a church in the west of Nigeria where gunmen killed two individuals and abducted many worshipers during a live-streamed service.

These events have taken place against the backdrop of international focus on Nigeria's security situation.

Past Background

Nigeria continues to be scarred by the memory of the mass abduction of almost 300 female students by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a decade ago, with some of those girls still unaccounted for.

Firsthand Accounts

In a concerning video clip shared by Christian organizations, a upset employee described hearing the noise of motorcycles and vehicles before experiencing "violent banging" on multiple entrances of the compound.

"Children were weeping," the staff member reported, recounting her terror while looking for access to the section where the screaming was most intense.

The regional Catholic diocese confirmed that the "assailants operated violently and uninterrupted for nearly three hours, searching sleeping quarters."

Public Reaction and Fears

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

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

She concluded that the "authorities is not doing enough to combat the security crisis," and expressed approval for international intervention to "resolve this situation."

Continuing Safety Issues

For a long time, well-equipped criminal gangs have been carrying out murders and kidnappings for money in remote areas of northwest and central Nigeria, where state presence is limited.

While nobody has taken credit for the latest attacks, criminal groups seeking financial compensation frequently attack schools in rural areas where protection is inadequate.

These groups maintain bases in extensive forest areas straddling several states in western Nigeria.

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