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Gunmen have abducted more than 300 pupils and educators in what is considered the largest collective seizures in recent Nigerian experience, as stated by a religious organization on Saturday.

Growing Crisis in School Facilities

The early Friday attack on St Mary's mixed-gender school in western Nigeria came just days after gunmen invaded a secondary school in neighboring Kebbi state, abducting 25 female students.

Earlier reports had indicated 227 individuals were seized, but updated numbers surfaced after a detailed counting process confirmed that 303 students and 12 educators had been abducted.

The kidnapped students, aged between eight and 18 years, represent nearly 50 percent of the school's total student population of 629.

Official Response and Security Actions

State authorities have announced that intelligence departments and law enforcement are presently performing a comprehensive head count to establish the exact number of abducted people.

In reaction to the increasing security fears, the local authorities has directed the shutting of all schools in the region, with nearby states following comparable preventive actions.

Furthermore, the national education ministry has directed the temporary shutting of 47 residential high schools throughout the country.

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

Latest Security Incidents

The educational institution abductions constitute the most recent in a sequence of safety breaches that have rocked the country, including an attack on a church in western Nigeria where assailants shot dead two people and abducted many worshipers during a live-streamed service.

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

Historical Background

Nigeria continues to be traumatized by the legacy of the large-scale kidnapping of nearly 300 schoolgirls by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a decade ago, with several of those girls still unaccounted for.

Eyewitness Testimonies

In a concerning recording shared by Christian groups, a frightened employee described hearing the sounds of bikes and cars before experiencing "forceful banging" on various entrances of the school premises.

"Children were crying," the witness stated, describing her terror while searching for access to the area where the screaming was most intense.

The local Catholic authority stated that the "assailants operated violently and without interruption for almost three hours, searching sleeping quarters."

Citizen Reaction and Concerns

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

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

She stated that the "government is not doing enough to combat insecurity," and expressed approval for international assistance to "resolve this crisis."

Continuing Safety Challenges

For years, heavily armed criminal gangs have been carrying out murders and abductions for ransom in rural areas of northern and central Nigeria, where state presence is limited.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks, bandit gangs seeking financial compensation often target schools in countryside locations where protection is weak.

These gangs maintain camps in vast woodland areas straddling multiple states in western Nigeria.

Although these criminals have no political motives and are mainly driven by financial gain, their increasing alliance with extremist groups from the north-east has become a major source of worry for officials and experts alike.