Cameroon has expelled more than 2,000 Nigerians who were living in the country illegally as part of new security measures intended to prevent suicide attacks by Boko Haram jihadists, sources said Friday.

Regional newspaper L'Oeil du Sahel reported that about 2,500 Nigerians had been "rounded up" in Kousseri, in the far-north of Cameroon, and sent back to their country on Thursday. A source close to regional authorities confirmed that "more than 2,000 'irregular' Nigerians have been expelled from Kousseri".