🔗 Share this article

Gunmen have abducted in excess of 300 pupils and educators in one of the largest group abductions in modern Nigerian experience, as stated by a religious organization on Saturday.

Growing Crisis in Educational Institutions

The pre-dawn Friday attack on St Mary's co-educational school in Niger state came just a short time after armed men stormed a secondary school in neighboring Kebbi state, taking 25 girls.

Earlier reports had stated 227 victims were taken, but revised numbers emerged after a detailed counting process established that 303 students and 12 teachers had been kidnapped.

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

Government Response and Security Measures

Local authorities have stated that security departments and police are presently performing a comprehensive head count to establish the precise number of missing people.

In reaction to the growing safety fears, the local authorities has directed the closure of every schools in the state, with neighboring states adopting similar precautionary steps.

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

President Bola Tinubu has called off international commitments, including attendance at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to concentrate on managing the emergency.

Recent Violent Incidents

The educational institution abductions constitute the latest in a sequence of safety incidents that have rocked the country, including an attack on a place of worship in western Nigeria where assailants killed two people and abducted dozens worshipers during a online broadcast service.

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

Historical Context

Nigeria remains traumatized by the legacy of the large-scale kidnapping of almost 300 female students by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a ten years ago, with several of those girls still unaccounted for.

Firsthand Testimonies

In a concerning recording shared by religious organizations, a frightened worker recounted hearing the sounds of motorcycles and cars before hearing "violent banging" on multiple gates of the compound.

"Children were screaming," the witness said, describing her panic while looking for keys to the section where the crying was most intense.

The regional Catholic diocese stated that the "assailants operated violently and without interruption for nearly three hours, moving through dormitories."

Citizen Reaction and Concerns

Meanwhile, about 600km away on the periphery of Abuja, concerned parents were collecting their students from educational institutions following the closure directive.

One mother, a 40-year-old healthcare worker, expressed her disbelief at the scale of the abduction, questioning how 300 students could be abducted at once.

She stated that the "government is not doing enough to curb the security crisis," and expressed support for external intervention to "salvage this situation."

Ongoing Security Challenges

For years, well-equipped criminal gangs have been carrying out killings and kidnappings for ransom in remote areas of northwest and middle Nigeria, where government control is limited.

While nobody has taken credit for the latest incidents, bandit gangs seeking ransom payments frequently attack schools in rural areas where security is weak.

These gangs maintain camps in vast woodland areas spanning multiple states in the west of Nigeria.

Although these bandits have no political motives and are mainly motivated by financial gain, their growing cooperation with jihadist groups from the northeastern region has become a significant cause of concern for officials and security analysts alike.