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Armed attackers have seized more than 300 students and teachers in what is considered the largest collective seizures in recent Nigerian experience, according to a Christian organization on Saturday.

Escalating Emergency in School Institutions

The pre-dawn Friday raid on St Mary's mixed-gender school in Niger state came just a short time after armed men invaded a high school in adjacent Kebbi state, seizing 25 young women.

Initial reports had stated 227 individuals were seized, but revised figures emerged after a thorough verification exercise determined that 303 pupils and 12 instructors had been abducted.

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

Government Reaction and Security Actions

State officials have confirmed that intelligence departments and police are currently performing a thorough census to establish the exact number of missing people.

In reaction to the growing security fears, the state government has ordered the closure of all schools in the region, with nearby states following comparable precautionary steps.

Additionally, the federal education ministry has directed the provisional shutting of 47 residential high schools across the country.

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

Latest Violent Events

The school kidnappings represent the latest in a sequence of security breaches that have rocked the country, including an attack on a church in the west of Nigeria where assailants shot dead two people and abducted dozens worshipers during a live-streamed service.

These incidents have occurred against the background of global focus on Nigeria's security situation.

Past Background

Nigeria continues to be scarred by the legacy of the mass kidnapping of almost 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 recording shared by Christian organizations, a frightened worker recounted hearing the sounds of bikes and cars before experiencing "forceful banging" on multiple gates of the compound.

"Students were screaming," the witness reported, recounting her terror while looking for access to the area where the crying was most intense.

The local Catholic authority stated that the "attackers acted aggressively and uninterrupted for nearly three hours, moving through dormitories."

Public Reaction and Concerns

Meanwhile, about 600km away on the outskirts of Abuja, worried parents were picking up their children from schools following the closure directive.

One mother, a 40-year-old nurse, expressed her disbelief at the scale of the kidnapping, questioning how 300 students could be abducted simultaneously.

She stated that the "authorities is failing to act to address insecurity," and voiced support for international intervention to "salvage this crisis."

Ongoing Security Issues

For a long time, well-equipped bandit groups have been conducting murders and abductions for money in remote areas of northern and central Nigeria, where government control is minimal.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the recent incidents, criminal groups demanding ransom payments often attack schools in rural areas where protection is inadequate.

These gangs maintain bases in extensive woodland areas spanning multiple states in the west of Nigeria.

Although these criminals have no political motives and are primarily driven by monetary profit, their increasing cooperation with extremist groups from the northeastern region has become a major source of concern for authorities and experts alike.