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Gunmen have seized more than 300 pupils and educators in what appears to be the biggest mass kidnappings in modern Nigerian experience, as reported by a religious organization on the weekend.

Growing Emergency in Educational Facilities

The pre-dawn Friday attack on St Mary's mixed-gender school in western Nigeria came just days after armed men attacked a secondary school in adjacent Kebbi state, abducting 25 female students.

Initial reports had indicated 227 individuals were taken, but revised figures surfaced after a comprehensive verification exercise confirmed that 303 students and 12 instructors had been abducted.

The kidnapped students, aged between eight and 18 years, account for nearly 50 percent of the school's total enrollment of 629.

Official Response and Safety Actions

State officials have announced that intelligence agencies and police are presently conducting a comprehensive census to verify the exact number of missing individuals.

In response to the increasing safety concerns, the local authorities has directed the shutting of all schools in the region, with nearby states following comparable precautionary steps.

Furthermore, the federal education department has ordered the provisional closure of 47 boarding secondary schools across the country.

President Bola Tinubu has called off international commitments, including participation at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to focus on handling the situation.

Latest Security Incidents

The school abductions constitute the most recent in a series of security incidents that have shaken the country, including an assault on a church in the west of Nigeria where assailants shot dead two people and abducted many worshipers during a live-streamed service.

These incidents have occurred against the backdrop of international attention on Nigeria's safety situation.

Historical Context

Nigeria remains traumatized by the memory of the large-scale kidnapping of nearly 300 schoolgirls by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a decade ago, with some of those girls still unaccounted for.

Firsthand Accounts

In a disturbing recording circulated by religious groups, a upset employee recounted hearing the noise of bikes and cars before experiencing "violent banging" on various entrances of the school premises.

"Children were crying," the witness reported, describing her fear while searching for access to the area where the screaming was loudest.

The regional Catholic authority confirmed that the "assailants acted aggressively and without interruption for nearly three hours, searching dormitories."

Citizen Response and Concerns

Meanwhile, about 600km away on the periphery of Abuja, concerned guardians were picking up their students from schools following the closure order.

One mother, a 40-year-old healthcare worker, expressed her disbelief at the scale of the abduction, questioning how 300 children could be taken simultaneously.

She stated that the "government is not doing enough to curb insecurity," and voiced support for external intervention to "resolve this crisis."

Continuing Safety Challenges

For years, well-equipped bandit groups have been carrying out murders and abductions for ransom in remote areas of northwest and central Nigeria, where government control is limited.

While no group has taken credit for the latest attacks, bandit gangs seeking financial compensation often attack schools in countryside locations where protection is inadequate.

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

Although these bandits have no political motives and are mainly driven by financial gain, their growing alliance with jihadist groups from the north-east has become a major source of worry for officials and security analysts alike.