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Gunmen have kidnapped over 300 pupils and educators in what appears to be the biggest mass kidnappings in recent Nigerian history, as stated by a Christian organization on Saturday.

Growing Crisis in School Institutions

The Friday morning raid on St Mary's co-educational school in Niger state occurred just a short time after gunmen attacked a secondary school in adjacent Kebbi state, taking 25 female students.

Initial accounts had stated 227 individuals were seized, but revised numbers emerged after a comprehensive verification exercise determined that 303 pupils and 12 educators had been kidnapped.

The kidnapped pupils, aged between eight and 18 years, account for nearly half of the school's overall enrollment of 629.

Government Reaction and Security Actions

Local officials have stated that intelligence agencies and law enforcement are presently performing a comprehensive head count to verify the exact number of missing people.

In reaction to the increasing safety concerns, the state government has mandated the shutting of every schools in the state, with nearby states following comparable preventive steps.

Furthermore, the national education ministry has ordered the provisional closure of 47 boarding secondary schools throughout the country.

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

Recent Security Events

The educational institution kidnappings constitute the latest in a series of safety incidents that have shaken the country, including an attack on a church in the west of Nigeria where assailants killed two individuals and abducted dozens worshipers during a online broadcast service.

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

Past Background

Nigeria continues to be scarred by the memory of the mass abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a ten years ago, with several of those girls still unaccounted for.

Eyewitness Testimonies

In a concerning video clip circulated by religious groups, a distraught school staff member described hearing the sounds of motorcycles and vehicles before experiencing "violent banging" on various entrances of the school premises.

"Students were screaming," the staff member stated, recounting her fear while looking for keys to the area where the screaming was loudest.

The local Catholic diocese stated that the "attackers acted aggressively and uninterrupted for almost three hours, searching dormitories."

Citizen Response and Concerns

Meanwhile, about 600km away on the periphery of Abuja, worried guardians were picking up their students from schools following the shutdown directive.

One mother, a 40-year-old healthcare worker, expressed her shock at the scale of the kidnapping, asking how 300 children could be abducted simultaneously.

She stated that the "authorities is failing to act to curb the security crisis," and voiced support for international assistance to "salvage this situation."

Continuing Safety Issues

For years, well-equipped bandit groups have been carrying out murders and abductions for money in remote areas of northwest and central Nigeria, where state presence is minimal.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the recent attacks, criminal groups seeking ransom payments often attack schools in rural areas where security is inadequate.

These groups maintain camps in extensive forest areas spanning multiple states in the west of Nigeria.

Although these bandits have no ideological leanings and are primarily driven by financial gain, their growing alliance with jihadist groups from the northeastern region has become a major cause of concern for officials and experts alike.