An unknown number of students and staff were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in an attack on a Catholic boarding school in western Nigeria early Friday, authorities said.

More than 300 children and staff are thought to have been abducted from a Catholic school in Nigeria this week, one of the worst mass kidnappings ever recorded there.

The latest attack targeted St Mary's School in Papiri, Niger state, where authorities had already ordered the temporary closure of all boarding schools due to rising security threats.