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Gunmen have seized more than 300 schoolchildren and staff in one of the biggest group abductions in modern Nigerian experience, according to a religious organization on Saturday.

Growing Crisis in Educational Institutions

The early Friday attack on St Mary's co-educational school in western Nigeria came just days after armed men attacked a secondary school in neighboring Kebbi state, taking 25 young women.

Earlier accounts had indicated 227 individuals were seized, but updated numbers emerged after a detailed assessment determined that 303 pupils and 12 teachers had been abducted.

The taken pupils, ranging between eight and 18 years, account for nearly 50 percent of the school's overall enrollment of 629.

Official Response and Security Actions

State authorities have confirmed that intelligence departments and police are presently performing a comprehensive head count to verify the exact number of abducted people.

In response to the growing safety concerns, the state government has ordered the shutting of all schools in the region, with neighboring states following comparable preventive actions.

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

President Bola Tinubu has called off overseas engagements, including participation at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to concentrate on handling the crisis.

Recent Security Incidents

The school kidnappings represent the most recent in a series of security incidents that have rocked the nation, including an assault on a church in western Nigeria where gunmen shot dead two individuals and abducted dozens congregation members during a live-streamed service.

These incidents have occurred against the backdrop of international focus on Nigeria's security situation.

Historical Context

Nigeria continues to be traumatized by the legacy of the large-scale kidnapping of almost 300 female students by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a ten years ago, with some of those girls still missing.

Eyewitness Accounts

In a disturbing video clip shared by religious organizations, a upset school staff member described hearing the sounds of bikes and cars before hearing "forceful banging" on various entrances of the school premises.

"Students were screaming," the witness said, recounting her terror while searching for access to the area where the screaming was loudest.

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

Citizen Response and Concerns

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

One parent, a 40-year-old nurse, voiced her shock at the scale of the abduction, asking how 300 children could be abducted at once.

She stated that the "government is failing to act to curb insecurity," and expressed approval for international assistance to "resolve this crisis."

Ongoing Safety Challenges

For a long time, well-equipped criminal gangs have been conducting killings and abductions for money in remote areas of northwest and middle Nigeria, where government control is limited.

While nobody has taken credit for the latest incidents, bandit gangs demanding financial compensation often target schools in countryside locations where protection is weak.

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

Although these bandits have no political motives and are primarily driven by monetary profit, their growing cooperation with extremist groups from the northeastern region has become a significant cause of concern for officials and security analysts alike.