President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the release of $1bn for the procurement of security equipment to fight insurgency.

The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of a meeting Buhari had with security chiefs at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.

The President was also said to have asked the security chiefs to intensify efforts aimed at securing the release of Leah Sharibu, the Dapchi schoolgirl still being held by Boko Haram because she refused to renounce Christianity.

Punch.