Senegal arrests five Boko Haram allies

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Five people suspected to be having links with the Boko Haram sect have been arrested in Senegal, officials said on Monday.

Reuters quoted a top Senegalese judiciary officer as having said on Monday that the West African nation had arrested five people suspected of having links with the Boko Haram sect, a development, the official said could mark a significant expansion of the sect’s operations.

Boko Haram, which started in Borno State some years ago, had spread to Niger, Chad, Cameroon and lately to Senegal.

It was learnt that the five suspected allies of the Boko Haram sect were arrested in September in the suburbs of Dakar, the capital of Senegal and the central town of Kaolak, more than 2,500 kilometres from the Islamist militants’ heartland in north-eastern Nigeria, a senior justice ministry official said.


“We believe those arrested have ties with Boko Haram,” the official told Reuters.

The official added that the five were arraigned before a Senegalese court on Friday where they were charged with alleged relations with Boko Haram, financing of terrorism and money laundering.

Boko Haram has sworn allegiance to Islamic State and killed thousands in Nigeria and its neighbours, Cameroon, Chad and Niger, in its bid to carve out an Islamist state.

Senegal, a majority-Muslim country, has traditionally been a bulwark of stability in the region.

A Muslim preacher was arrested last week in the southern town of Kolda on charges relating to inflammatory statements he had made during sermons.

French troops intervened in Senegal’s neighbour Mali in January 2013 to drive out Islamist militants who had taken over much of the north of the country during a separatist uprising.

Meanwhile, two female suicide bombers suspected to be members of the Boko Haram militant group blew themselves on Monday near a mosque in Cameroon’s Far North province, military officials said on Monday.

It was not immediately clear if the explosions caused other fatalities.

Boko Haram has led a six-year campaign for an Islamist state in north-eastern Nigeria. Neighbouring countries including Cameroon joined forces against the group last year, driving its offensive beyond Nigeria and displacing thousands of people.

Source: Punch