NIAMEY, APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE OF. — In French West Africa, it was erected on 28 Apr. 1942 from territories detached from the apostolic vicariates of Dahomey (now Ouidah), Ouagadougou, Khartoum and Foumban and from the apostolic prefecture of Jos and Kaduna, and entrusted to the Society of African Missions. Its area was 1,360,000 sq. km. with a population of 2,100,000, of whom only 780 were Catholics in 1942, served by seven missionaries.
The inhabitants of the regions north of the Niger were predominantly Muslim, and those to the south pagan. The vastness of the territory required division, especially as Muslim propaganda grew increasingly active and anti-Catholic agitation more threatening. For this reason, in 1946 some Redemptorist Fathers went to the northern zone, establishing themselves at Zinder, Niamey and Fada. Meanwhile, the French Government re-established the Colony of Upper Volta, so that the apostolic prefecture of Niamey came to include territories belonging to the colonies of Niger, Dahomey and Upper Volta.
On 13 May 1948 the territory was divided, and the prefecture of Niamey retained all the territory of the Colony of Niger and the district of Fada-Ngourma, which forms part of the Colony of Upper Volta. The remaining territory became the apostolic prefecture of Parakou (q.v.). The area of the apostolic prefecture of Niamey is about 1,294,000 sq. km., with a population of about 2,200,000, of whom 1,700,280 are Muslims and 495,000 pagans. There are about 3,700 Catholics, served by 12 Redemptorist missionaries, to whom the prefecture was entrusted, and by 9 sisters. There are 18 catechists, 5 primary stations, 36 secondary stations and 3 elementary schools. There are also some charitable and Catholic Action associations.