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Gunmen have abducted in excess of 300 pupils and educators in what is considered the biggest mass kidnappings in modern Nigerian times, as reported by a religious organization on Saturday.

Growing Emergency in School Facilities

The Friday morning attack on St Mary's co-educational school in Niger state came just days after armed men invaded a secondary school in adjacent Kebbi state, abducting 25 female students.

Initial reports had stated 227 individuals were taken, but new figures were released after a detailed assessment established that 303 pupils and 12 educators had been abducted.

The taken children, aged between eight and 18 years, represent nearly 50 percent of the school's total enrollment of 629.

Official Response and Security Actions

State authorities have confirmed that intelligence agencies and police are presently conducting a thorough census to determine the exact number of abducted people.

In response to the increasing safety concerns, the local authorities has directed the closure of every schools in the region, with neighboring states following comparable precautionary actions.

Additionally, the national education department has ordered the provisional shutting of 47 boarding secondary schools across the country.

President Bola Tinubu has called off overseas commitments, including participation at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to focus on managing the crisis.

Latest Violent Incidents

The school abductions represent the most recent in a series of security breaches that have shaken the country, including an attack on a place of worship in western Nigeria where assailants killed two individuals and seized many worshipers during a online broadcast service.

These events have occurred against the background of international attention on Nigeria's security situation.

Past Background

Nigeria remains scarred by the memory of the large-scale abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a decade ago, with some of those victims still unaccounted for.

Eyewitness Testimonies

In a disturbing video clip circulated by religious groups, a upset employee recounted hearing the sounds of bikes and cars before hearing "forceful banging" on various entrances of the school premises.

"Children were crying," the staff member reported, describing her fear while searching for keys to the section where the crying was most intense.

The local Catholic diocese stated that the "attackers acted violently and uninterrupted for almost three hours, moving through dormitories."

Public Response and Fears

Meanwhile, about 600km away on the outskirts of Abuja, worried parents were collecting their students from schools following the closure order.

One parent, a 40-year-old nurse, voiced her shock at the magnitude of the kidnapping, questioning how 300 students could be taken simultaneously.

She stated that the "government is not doing enough to address the security crisis," and expressed support for international intervention to "salvage this situation."

Continuing Safety Challenges

For years, heavily armed bandit groups have been carrying out murders and kidnappings for money in remote areas of northern and middle Nigeria, where government control is minimal.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the latest incidents, bandit gangs seeking financial compensation frequently target schools in countryside locations where security is inadequate.

These groups maintain camps in vast forest areas straddling multiple states in the west of Nigeria.

Although these bandits have no ideological leanings and are mainly driven by monetary profit, their increasing alliance with jihadist groups from the north-east has become a significant source of worry for authorities and experts alike.