🔗 Share this article

Gunmen have kidnapped more than 300 pupils and educators in what appears to be the biggest collective seizures in recent Nigerian experience, according to a Christian organization on the weekend.

Growing Emergency in Educational Institutions

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

Initial accounts had stated 227 victims were seized, but revised figures were released after a detailed counting process confirmed that 303 students and 12 educators had been kidnapped.

The abducted children, ranging between eight and 18 years, represent nearly half of the school's total student population of 629.

Government Response and Security Actions

State officials have stated that security agencies and police are currently performing a comprehensive assessment to establish the precise number of missing individuals.

In response to the growing security fears, the local authorities has mandated the closure of every schools in the region, with neighboring states adopting comparable precautionary measures.

Furthermore, the federal education department has ordered the provisional shutting of 47 boarding secondary schools throughout the country.

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

Latest Violent Incidents

The school abductions constitute the most recent in a series of security incidents that have shaken the country, including an assault on a church in western Nigeria where gunmen shot dead two individuals and seized many worshipers during a online broadcast service.

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

Historical Background

Nigeria remains scarred by the legacy of the large-scale abduction of nearly 300 female students by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok over a ten years ago, with some of those victims still unaccounted for.

Firsthand Testimonies

In a concerning recording circulated by Christian groups, a distraught school staff member recounted hearing the noise of motorcycles and cars before experiencing "forceful banging" on various entrances of the compound.

"Students were weeping," the witness reported, recounting her terror while looking for keys to the section where the crying was most intense.

The regional Catholic authority stated that the "attackers operated aggressively and without interruption for almost three hours, moving through dormitories."

Public Reaction and Concerns

At the same time, about 600km away on the outskirts of Abuja, concerned parents were collecting their students from schools following the closure directive.

One parent, a 40-year-old healthcare worker, voiced her shock at the scale of the kidnapping, asking how 300 students could be taken simultaneously.

She concluded that the "government is failing to act to curb the security crisis," and voiced support for international intervention to "salvage this situation."

Ongoing Safety Issues

For years, heavily armed criminal gangs have been carrying out killings and kidnappings for money in remote areas of northwest and central Nigeria, where state presence is minimal.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the latest incidents, bandit gangs 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.

While these criminals have no ideological leanings and are mainly motivated by monetary profit, their growing cooperation with extremist groups from the north-east has become a significant cause of concern for authorities and security analysts alike.