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Gunmen have seized in excess of 300 pupils and educators in what appears to be the largest group abductions in modern Nigerian history, according to a religious organization on Saturday.

Growing Emergency in Educational Facilities

The pre-dawn Friday attack on St Mary's co-educational school in western Nigeria came just days after armed men invaded a secondary school in adjacent Kebbi state, taking 25 female students.

Earlier reports had suggested 227 victims were taken, but new figures surfaced after a detailed verification exercise established that 303 pupils and 12 teachers had been kidnapped.

The kidnapped children, ranging between eight and 18 years, account for nearly 50 percent of the school's total enrollment of 629.

Government Response and Safety Measures

State authorities have confirmed that intelligence agencies and law enforcement are currently conducting a comprehensive census to determine the exact number of abducted people.

In reaction to the growing safety concerns, the local authorities has ordered the shutting of all schools in the region, with nearby states adopting comparable preventive steps.

Additionally, the federal education department has directed the provisional 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 concentrate on managing the emergency.

Recent Security Incidents

The educational institution kidnappings represent the most recent in a series of security incidents that have shaken the nation, including an assault on a church in western Nigeria where gunmen killed two people and seized many congregation members during a online broadcast service.

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

Past Background

Nigeria remains scarred by the legacy of the mass abduction of almost 300 schoolgirls by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a ten years ago, with some of those victims still unaccounted for.

Eyewitness Testimonies

In a concerning recording circulated by religious groups, a upset employee described hearing the noise of bikes and vehicles before hearing "violent banging" on various entrances of the school premises.

"Children were weeping," the witness stated, recounting her fear while searching for keys to the section where the crying was loudest.

The regional Catholic diocese confirmed that the "assailants acted violently and without interruption for almost three hours, searching dormitories."

Public Response and Concerns

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

One parent, a 40-year-old nurse, expressed her disbelief at the scale of the kidnapping, asking how 300 children could be taken at once.

She concluded that the "authorities is not doing enough to combat the security crisis," and voiced support for external assistance to "salvage this situation."

Continuing Safety Issues

For years, well-equipped criminal gangs have been conducting killings and abductions for money in rural areas of northwest and central Nigeria, where state presence is limited.

While nobody has taken credit for the latest incidents, criminal groups seeking financial compensation frequently attack schools in countryside locations where protection is weak.

These gangs maintain camps in extensive woodland areas straddling multiple states in western Nigeria.

Although these bandits have no ideological leanings and are mainly motivated by financial gain, their increasing alliance with jihadist groups from the north-east has become a major cause of worry for authorities and security analysts alike.