Nigerian state governors on Thursday approved the release of $1 billion from the country’s excess oil account to the government to help fight the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency.

The money will come from what is known as the excess crude account, which is a reserve of money earned from selling oil.

The sum is almost half the money in the account.

Although President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the war against Boko Haram had been won, the group continues to mount attacks and carry out suicide bombings in northeastern Nigeria and in neighbouring countries.