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Armed attackers have abducted over 300 pupils and educators in what is considered the biggest collective seizures in recent Nigerian times, as reported by a religious organization on Saturday.

Escalating Crisis in Educational Institutions

The early Friday attack on St Mary's mixed-gender school in Niger state occurred just a short time after armed men invaded a high school in neighboring Kebbi state, seizing 25 girls.

Initial accounts had stated 227 individuals were seized, but revised figures emerged after a comprehensive counting process confirmed that 303 pupils and 12 instructors had been kidnapped.

The taken children, ranging between eight and 18 years, account for nearly half of the school's total student body of 629.

Official Response and Safety Actions

Local authorities have announced that security departments and law enforcement are presently performing a comprehensive census to establish the exact number of abducted individuals.

In reaction to the growing safety concerns, the state government has mandated the shutting of every schools in the state, with nearby states adopting similar precautionary steps.

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

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

Recent Violent Incidents

The educational institution abductions constitute the latest in a sequence of safety breaches that have rocked the nation, including an assault on a church in western Nigeria where assailants shot dead two individuals and abducted many worshipers during a online broadcast service.

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

Historical Background

Nigeria remains traumatized by the memory of the large-scale abduction of nearly 300 female students by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a ten years ago, with several of those girls still unaccounted for.

Firsthand Testimonies

In a concerning recording shared by Christian groups, a frightened school staff member recounted hearing the noise of bikes and vehicles before experiencing "violent banging" on various entrances of the compound.

"Children were weeping," the witness said, recounting her fear while looking for keys to the area where the crying was most intense.

The local Catholic authority confirmed that the "attackers acted violently and without interruption for nearly three hours, moving through sleeping quarters."

Citizen Response and Fears

At the same time, about 600km away on the outskirts of Abuja, concerned parents were collecting their children from educational institutions following the shutdown directive.

One parent, a 40-year-old nurse, voiced her disbelief at the scale of the abduction, questioning how 300 children could be taken at once.

She stated that the "government is not doing enough to combat insecurity," and voiced approval for external intervention to "salvage this situation."

Continuing Security Issues

For years, heavily armed criminal gangs have been conducting killings and abductions for ransom in rural areas of northwest and central Nigeria, where state presence is limited.

While nobody has claimed responsibility for the recent attacks, bandit gangs seeking financial compensation frequently target schools in countryside locations where protection is inadequate.

These groups maintain camps in vast forest areas spanning several states in western Nigeria.

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