Niger declared a 15-day state of emergency in the Diffa region after the attack of Nigerian terror group Boko Haram on the Niger-Nigeria border Wednesday, media reported. The announcement came when Niger's Minister of Defense raised the alarm over the situation in Diffa, where businesses, government offices and schools were closed on Tuesday as residents sought to flee the region. Some 125,000 refugees have fled to southeast Niger. Niger had mostly been safe from the violence of the Boko Haram insurgency on the border of Nigeria, but the Islamist terror group attacked the country several times since last week after a unanimous vote by Niger's parliament on Monday to send troops to Nigeria to join a regional fight against Boko Haram. "The people must support the defense and security forces, especially by signing up," said by Mahamadou Issoufou - President of Niger. The UN food agency expressed concerns about the refugees. "The World Food Program is particularly concerned by the attacks in the north of Nigeria which are spreading to Niger, forcing thousands of people to flee," WFP spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said. Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin have promised to contribute a total of 8,700 troops to a regional force being set up to defeat Boko Haram, whose insurgency has forced Nigeria to delay its presidential election due on Feb. 14 for six weeks.
