🔗 Share this article

Gunmen have kidnapped more than 300 students and teachers in one of the most significant mass kidnappings in recent Nigerian experience, as reported by a Christian organization on the weekend.

Escalating Crisis in Educational Facilities

The pre-dawn Friday attack on St Mary's co-educational school in western Nigeria happened just days after armed men invaded a secondary school in adjacent Kebbi state, abducting 25 young women.

Earlier accounts had suggested 227 victims were seized, but revised figures surfaced after a detailed counting process established that 303 pupils and 12 teachers had been abducted.

The abducted students, aged between eight and 18 years, account for nearly 50 percent of the school's overall student population of 629.

Government Response and Safety Actions

State authorities have confirmed that security agencies and law enforcement are currently conducting a thorough head count to determine the exact number of abducted people.

In reaction to the increasing safety concerns, the local authorities has ordered the shutting of every schools in the state, with neighboring states adopting similar precautionary steps.

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

President Bola Tinubu has postponed international engagements, including attendance at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to focus on handling the emergency.

Latest Security Events

The educational institution abductions represent the most recent in a sequence of security breaches that have shaken the nation, including an attack on a church in the west of Nigeria where assailants shot dead two individuals and seized numerous congregation members during a live-streamed service.

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

Past Background

Nigeria remains scarred by the memory of the mass abduction of nearly 300 female students by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a decade ago, with some of those girls still unaccounted for.

Eyewitness Accounts

In a disturbing recording circulated by religious groups, a upset school staff member recounted hearing the noise of bikes and vehicles before hearing "violent banging" on various entrances of the school premises.

"Children were weeping," the staff member stated, recounting her panic while searching for access to the section where the screaming was most intense.

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

Citizen Response and Fears

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

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

She stated that the "authorities is not doing enough to address the security crisis," and expressed approval for external assistance to "salvage this situation."

Continuing Security Issues

For a long time, heavily armed criminal gangs have been carrying out killings and abductions for ransom in rural areas of northern and central Nigeria, where state presence is minimal.

While nobody has taken credit for the recent attacks, criminal groups seeking financial compensation frequently attack schools in rural areas where security is weak.

These gangs maintain bases in vast woodland areas spanning several states in western Nigeria.

While these criminals have no ideological leanings and are primarily motivated by financial gain, their growing cooperation with jihadist groups from the northeastern region has become a significant cause of concern for authorities and security analysts alike.