🔗 Share this article

Gunmen have kidnapped more than 300 students and teachers in what appears to be the largest group abductions in recent Nigerian times, according to a religious organization on Saturday.

Growing Crisis in Educational Institutions

The pre-dawn Friday raid on St Mary's mixed-gender school in Niger state happened just days after armed men attacked a high school in adjacent Kebbi state, abducting 25 girls.

Initial reports had indicated 227 individuals were taken, but updated numbers emerged after a detailed verification exercise established that 303 students and 12 teachers had been kidnapped.

The abducted pupils, aged between eight and 18 years, constitute nearly half of the school's overall enrollment of 629.

Official Response and Security Actions

Local authorities have confirmed that intelligence agencies and police are currently performing a comprehensive assessment to determine the precise number of abducted individuals.

In response to the growing safety fears, the state government has ordered the closure of all schools in the state, with neighboring states adopting similar preventive measures.

Additionally, the federal education ministry has ordered the provisional closure of 47 boarding secondary schools across the country.

President Bola Tinubu has called off international engagements, including participation at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to concentrate on handling the situation.

Recent Security Incidents

The educational institution kidnappings constitute the most recent in a series of safety breaches that have rocked the country, including an assault on a place of worship in western Nigeria where assailants killed two individuals and abducted dozens worshipers during a live-streamed service.

These events have occurred against the background of international attention on Nigeria's security situation.

Past Context

Nigeria remains traumatized by the memory of the mass kidnapping of almost 300 female students by extremist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a decade ago, with some of those victims still unaccounted for.

Eyewitness Testimonies

In a disturbing video clip shared by religious organizations, a frightened employee recounted hearing the sounds of motorcycles and vehicles before experiencing "violent banging" on various gates of the compound.

"Children were screaming," the witness reported, recounting her terror while searching for access to the section where the screaming was most intense.

The local Catholic authority stated that the "attackers acted aggressively and uninterrupted for almost three hours, searching sleeping quarters."

Public Reaction and Fears

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

One parent, a 40-year-old healthcare worker, expressed her shock at the magnitude of the abduction, asking how 300 children could be taken simultaneously.

She concluded that the "government is failing to act to combat insecurity," and voiced support for external assistance to "salvage this crisis."

Ongoing Safety Challenges

For a long time, heavily armed criminal gangs have been conducting murders and abductions for ransom in remote areas of northwest and central Nigeria, where state presence is limited.

While nobody has taken credit for the recent attacks, criminal groups seeking financial compensation often target schools in countryside locations where protection is inadequate.

These gangs maintain bases in vast forest areas spanning multiple states in the west of Nigeria.

Although these criminals have no political motives and are primarily driven by monetary profit, their increasing cooperation with jihadist groups from the northeastern region has become a major cause of concern for authorities and security analysts alike.