NIGER Republic has arrested and charged 643 with terrorism since February this year as part of its contribution to the regional fight against Boko Haram and the growth of terrorism across West Africa. 

A key member of the regional coalition put together to fight Boko Haram, Niger Republic recently deported over 3,000 Nigerian refugees and fishermen from the Lake Chad Basin as part of its clampdown on terrorist activities in the area. Yesterday, Hassoumi Massaoudou, Niger’s security minister, added that the country has detained and charged 643 people since February for their alleged links with Boko Haram. 

In addition, Mr Massaoudou told Niger Republic's parliament that the country had deployed 3,000 soldiers to a joint regional force formed with Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria to quash the Boko Haram insurgency. He said several Boko Haram networks and sleeper cells had been dismantled in Niger’s southern Diffa region on the border with Nigeria since a state of emergency was declared in the area in February. 

According to the minister, if such measures had not been taken there could have been an uprising in Diffa. Mr Massaoudou said those arrested and detained had been charged with acts of terrorism and criminal conspiracy. 

Diffa came under heavy attack in February when Boko Haram launched a ferocious assault on security operatives there, prompting the Niger republic government to introduce a state of emergency in the region. Yesterday, Niger's parliament voted to extend the state of emergency in Diffa by three months.