by Ranti Joseph
Several dozen people suspected of having links to Boko Haram have been arrested on Saturday in southern Niger since the start of cross-border attacks a week ago, Kalla Moutari, a local governor said.
“In the region of Zinder, we have a few dozen people whom we arrested for checking. They are suspects,” Kalla Moutari said adding that they were citizens of Niger.
The suspects were sent to an anti-terrorist unit in the capital Niamey, Moutari said.
Boko Haram launched a series of cross-border attacks in Niger’s remote Diffa area on February 6. The region is across the border from north-eastern Nigeria, the Boko Haram stronghold.
The suspects were arrested at checkpoints on access roads into Zinder, Niger’s second largest city some 400 kilometres (250 miles) west of Diffa, Moutari said.
He said some 10,000 people had fled the violence in Diffa to Zinder, and that the checkpoints allowed authorities to intercept those who had infiltrated the displaced people.
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