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Armed attackers have seized more than 300 schoolchildren and staff in what is considered the biggest collective seizures in recent Nigerian history, as reported by a religious organization on Saturday.

Escalating Emergency in School Facilities

The pre-dawn Friday attack on St Mary's mixed-gender school in western Nigeria came just a short time after gunmen attacked a secondary school in adjacent Kebbi state, seizing 25 young women.

Earlier reports had indicated 227 individuals were seized, but updated numbers were released after a thorough verification exercise established that 303 students and 12 instructors had been abducted.

The abducted children, ranging between eight and 18 years, account for nearly half of the school's total student body of 629.

Government Reaction and Security Measures

State authorities have confirmed that security departments and law enforcement are currently performing a thorough head count to verify the precise number of abducted people.

In response to the growing security fears, the state government has directed the closure of every schools in the region, with nearby states following comparable preventive actions.

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

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

Latest Violent Events

The educational institution abductions represent the most recent in a series of safety breaches that have rocked the country, including an assault on a place of worship in western Nigeria where gunmen killed two individuals and abducted many congregation members during a live-streamed service.

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

Historical Background

Nigeria remains traumatized by the legacy of the large-scale abduction of almost 300 female students by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a ten years ago, with several of those victims still unaccounted for.

Eyewitness Testimonies

In a concerning video clip shared by religious groups, a distraught school staff member recounted hearing the sounds of bikes and cars before hearing "violent banging" on multiple entrances of the school premises.

"Children were crying," the staff member said, describing her terror while looking for access to the area where the screaming was most intense.

The regional Catholic diocese confirmed that the "assailants acted aggressively and uninterrupted for almost three hours, searching dormitories."

Public Response and Concerns

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

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

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

Ongoing Safety Issues

For years, heavily armed criminal gangs have been conducting killings and kidnappings for money in remote areas of northern and central Nigeria, where state presence is limited.

While no group has taken credit for the latest attacks, criminal groups seeking ransom payments frequently target schools in countryside locations where security is inadequate.

These gangs maintain camps in extensive forest areas spanning multiple states in western Nigeria.

Although these bandits have no political motives and are primarily motivated by monetary profit, their increasing cooperation with jihadist groups from the northeastern region has become a major source of worry for officials and experts alike.