🔗 Share this article

Gunmen have abducted in excess of 300 students and teachers in what is considered the most significant mass kidnappings in modern Nigerian experience, according to a Christian organization on Saturday.

Growing Crisis in Educational Institutions

The pre-dawn Friday assault on St Mary's mixed-gender school in Niger state happened just days after armed men stormed a high school in adjacent Kebbi state, seizing 25 young women.

Earlier accounts had stated 227 victims were seized, but revised numbers surfaced after a thorough assessment determined that 303 students and 12 educators had been abducted.

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

Government Response and Safety Actions

Local officials have announced that security departments and law enforcement are presently conducting a thorough head count to establish the exact number of missing people.

In reaction to the growing security fears, the local authorities has mandated the closure of every schools in the region, with nearby states following comparable precautionary actions.

Furthermore, the national education ministry has ordered the provisional closure of 47 residential high schools throughout the country.

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

Latest Security Incidents

The educational institution kidnappings represent the most recent in a sequence of safety incidents that have shaken the nation, including an attack on a church in the west of Nigeria where gunmen killed two people and seized many congregation members during a online broadcast service.

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

Past Context

Nigeria remains scarred by the legacy of the large-scale kidnapping of almost 300 female students by jihadist group Boko Haram in Chibok more than a decade ago, with several of those victims still unaccounted for.

Firsthand Testimonies

In a disturbing recording shared by religious groups, a distraught employee described hearing the noise of bikes and vehicles before hearing "forceful banging" on various gates of the compound.

"Students were crying," the witness stated, describing her fear while looking for access to the section where the screaming was loudest.

The regional Catholic diocese confirmed that the "attackers acted violently and uninterrupted for nearly three hours, searching dormitories."

Public Response and Fears

At the same time, about 600km away on the outskirts of Abuja, concerned parents were collecting their students from educational institutions following the shutdown order.

One mother, a 40-year-old nurse, voiced her disbelief at the scale of the kidnapping, asking how 300 children could be abducted simultaneously.

She concluded that the "authorities is not doing enough to address the security crisis," and expressed support for external intervention to "resolve this situation."

Continuing Safety Issues

For years, heavily armed criminal gangs have been conducting murders and abductions for money in rural areas of northern and middle Nigeria, where state presence is minimal.

While nobody has taken credit for the latest attacks, criminal groups demanding ransom payments often attack schools in countryside locations where protection is weak.

These groups maintain camps in extensive woodland areas spanning multiple states in the west of Nigeria.

While these bandits have no ideological leanings and are mainly driven by monetary profit, their growing alliance with jihadist groups from the north-east has become a significant source of worry for officials and experts alike.