Nigeria has experienced one of its largest mass abductions in recent history and more than 300 children and staff are now thought to have been kidnapped from a secondary school.
It has been marked as one of the worst mass abductions the country has observed till date.
According to the Christian Association of Nigeria, 303 students and 12 teachers were taken from St Mary’s School in Niger state, considerably more than the previously estimated figures.
The number of people taken in this barrage of attacks by armed groups surpasses the 276 abducted during the Chikbok’s girl incident of 2014.
However, authorities in Niger state said that the school had defied an order to shut down all boarding facilities in line with the increased vulnerability.
It has been observed that kidnapping of people for extortions, known locally as bandits, has become a significant problem in various parts of Nigeria.
The payment of ransoms has been prohibited in an attempt to control the supply of money to the criminal gangs but with a minimal effect.
This mass abduction was the third attack in a row in the country in a week.
More than 20 schoolgirls were kidnapped from a boarding school in adjacent Kebbi state, and a church was also under attack in Kwara state, with two people killed and 38 others abducted.
In this connection, Nigerian President Bola Tinbu had cancelled all his international trips in order to address the security concerns, as citizens were demanding immediate actions to protect the community.
There are lethal attacks in the centre of Nigeria, mostly involving Muslim herders and largely Christian farmers.
Nonetheless, this incident has sparked attention as a serious tragedy, and demands an urgent response to protect community safety.
