🔗 Share this article

Armed attackers have abducted in excess of 300 pupils and educators in what is considered the largest mass kidnappings in modern Nigerian history, as stated by a religious organization on Saturday.

Growing Emergency in School Institutions

The early Friday assault on St Mary's co-educational school in Niger state occurred just a short time after armed men stormed a secondary school in adjacent Kebbi state, abducting 25 girls.

Earlier reports had indicated 227 individuals were taken, but revised figures surfaced after a comprehensive verification exercise determined that 303 pupils and 12 teachers had been kidnapped.

The taken children, ranging between eight and 18 years, constitute nearly 50 percent of the school's overall enrollment of 629.

Government Response and Safety Actions

State officials have announced that intelligence agencies and police are currently performing a comprehensive head count to verify the precise number of missing people.

In response to the increasing safety fears, the local authorities has directed the shutting of all schools in the region, with neighboring states adopting similar precautionary steps.

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

President Bola Tinubu has called off overseas commitments, including attendance at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to concentrate on handling the crisis.

Latest Security Events

The educational institution abductions represent the latest in a sequence of security incidents that have rocked the nation, including an assault on a church in the west of Nigeria where gunmen killed two individuals and abducted many worshipers during a online broadcast service.

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

Past Context

Nigeria remains scarred by the memory of the large-scale kidnapping of almost 300 schoolgirls by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a decade ago, with several of those girls still missing.

Firsthand Accounts

In a concerning video clip shared by religious groups, a upset worker described hearing the sounds of motorcycles and cars before hearing "violent banging" on various gates of the school premises.

"Children were crying," the staff member reported, describing her fear while looking for access to the area where the screaming was loudest.

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

Citizen Reaction and Fears

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

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

She stated that the "authorities is failing to act to address insecurity," and voiced approval for international assistance to "resolve this crisis."

Ongoing Safety Issues

For years, well-equipped criminal gangs have been carrying out murders and kidnappings for money in rural areas of northern and central Nigeria, where state presence is limited.

While nobody has claimed responsibility for the latest incidents, criminal groups demanding financial compensation often attack schools in rural areas where security is weak.

These gangs maintain bases in vast woodland areas spanning several states in the west of Nigeria.

While these criminals have no ideological leanings and are mainly driven by monetary profit, their increasing cooperation with jihadist groups from the northeastern region has become a significant source of concern for officials and experts alike.