In its efforts to rid its prisons of the dreaded Islamist insurgents, the Niger Republic is set to transfer about 500 Boko Haram prisoners back to Nigeria, according to reports from Reuters.

According to Reuters, judicial sources in the west African country informed that Niger has declared a
state of emergency over the incessant reports of insurgency in an effort to improve security and has made hundreds of arrests.

A magistrate working on the case said: “Nigeria sent a working group here (to Niger) last week and
the two sides have established an initial list of 500 detainees who will soon be transferred to Nigeria.”

The exact time when the prisoners, who are in detention centers of Kollo, Diffa and Koutoukale,
would be transferred is still unknown.

Both countries form part of 8,700-strong regional taskforce dedicated to destroying a group that has
killed thousands of people and displaced millions in its push to create an Islamic caliphate in the region.

However, the task force’s operations have stalled for logistical reasons, security sources say, and regional armies are instead seeking to counter the
group alone.