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Gunmen have abducted more than 300 students and teachers in what is considered the biggest mass kidnappings in modern Nigerian times, as reported by a religious organization on Saturday.

Growing Emergency in School Institutions

The Friday morning attack on St Mary's co-educational school in western Nigeria occurred just a short time after gunmen stormed a secondary school in neighboring Kebbi state, seizing 25 female students.

Initial accounts had suggested 227 victims were seized, but updated figures surfaced after a detailed counting process determined that 303 students and 12 teachers had been kidnapped.

The taken students, ranging between eight and 18 years, account for nearly half of the school's total student population of 629.

Government Reaction and Safety Actions

Local authorities have stated that intelligence agencies and police are currently conducting a thorough assessment to determine the precise number of abducted individuals.

In response to the increasing security fears, the state government has ordered the shutting of all schools in the region, with neighboring states following comparable preventive actions.

Additionally, the federal education ministry has ordered the temporary shutting of 47 residential high schools throughout the country.

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

Latest Violent Incidents

The educational institution abductions represent the most recent in a series of safety incidents that have shaken the country, including an attack on a place of worship in the west of Nigeria where assailants shot dead two individuals and abducted dozens worshipers during a online broadcast service.

These incidents have occurred against the background of international focus on Nigeria's safety situation.

Past Background

Nigeria continues to be scarred by the memory of the mass kidnapping of nearly 300 schoolgirls by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a ten years ago, with several of those girls still missing.

Firsthand Testimonies

In a disturbing video clip circulated by religious organizations, a frightened employee described hearing the sounds of bikes and cars before experiencing "forceful banging" on various entrances of the school premises.

"Students were weeping," the witness stated, recounting her fear while looking for keys to the area where the crying was loudest.

The local Catholic diocese confirmed that the "attackers operated aggressively and without interruption for almost three hours, searching sleeping quarters."

Citizen Response and Concerns

At the same time, about 600km away on the outskirts of Abuja, worried parents were collecting their students from educational institutions following the closure directive.

One mother, a 40-year-old nurse, voiced her disbelief at the scale of the abduction, asking how 300 children could be taken at once.

She stated that the "government is not doing enough to combat insecurity," and expressed approval for external assistance to "salvage this situation."

Ongoing Security Challenges

For years, well-equipped criminal gangs have been carrying out murders and abductions for ransom in rural areas of northwest and central Nigeria, where state presence is minimal.

While nobody has taken credit for the latest incidents, criminal groups seeking ransom payments frequently attack schools in rural areas where protection is inadequate.

These groups maintain bases in vast woodland areas straddling multiple states in western Nigeria.

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