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Gunmen have seized over 300 schoolchildren and staff in what appears to be the biggest group abductions in recent Nigerian experience, according to a religious organization on Saturday.

Growing Emergency in School Facilities

The Friday morning attack on St Mary's mixed-gender school in western Nigeria came just a short time after gunmen invaded a secondary school in neighboring Kebbi state, taking 25 female students.

Initial reports had suggested 227 individuals were taken, but updated figures emerged after a comprehensive assessment determined that 303 students and 12 educators had been kidnapped.

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

Official Response and Security Actions

State officials have announced that intelligence departments and police are presently performing a comprehensive head count to establish the exact number of abducted individuals.

In reaction to the increasing safety fears, the state government has directed the closure of all schools in the state, with neighboring states following similar precautionary steps.

Furthermore, the national education department has directed the provisional closure of 47 residential high schools throughout the country.

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

Recent Security Incidents

The educational institution abductions constitute the latest in a sequence of safety breaches that have rocked the country, including an assault on a church in western Nigeria where gunmen shot dead two individuals and seized many worshipers during a live-streamed service.

These incidents have taken place against the backdrop of international focus on Nigeria's safety situation.

Past Context

Nigeria continues to be scarred by the memory of the large-scale abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a decade ago, with several of those victims still unaccounted for.

Firsthand Accounts

In a disturbing video clip circulated by religious organizations, a frightened school staff member described hearing the sounds of bikes and vehicles before hearing "violent banging" on various entrances of the school premises.

"Children were weeping," the staff member reported, recounting her panic while looking for access to the area where the crying was loudest.

The regional Catholic authority confirmed that the "assailants acted aggressively and uninterrupted for almost three hours, moving through dormitories."

Citizen Reaction and Fears

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

One parent, a 40-year-old healthcare worker, voiced her disbelief at the scale of the kidnapping, questioning how 300 children could be abducted at once.

She concluded that the "government is failing to act to curb insecurity," and voiced approval for external assistance to "salvage this situation."

Continuing Safety Challenges

For a long time, heavily armed criminal gangs have been carrying out killings and abductions for money in rural areas of northern and central Nigeria, where government control is limited.

While nobody has claimed responsibility for the recent incidents, criminal groups seeking ransom payments often attack schools in countryside locations where protection is inadequate.

These groups maintain camps in extensive forest areas straddling several states in western Nigeria.

Although these criminals have no ideological leanings and are mainly driven by financial gain, their growing cooperation with jihadist groups from the northeastern region has become a major cause of concern for authorities and experts alike.