Abuja: Nigeria's government is in talks with Islamist militant group Boko Haram about a possible ceasefire, with the ultimate aim of securing a permanent cessation of hostilities, the country's information minister Lai Mohammed said on Sunday.

It is the first time in years the government has said it is talking to Boko Haram about a ceasefire in an insurgency that has killed tens of thousands of people and ravaged the north east of a country that has Africa's biggest economy.

President Muhammadu Buhari's government has, however, repeatedly said it is willing to hold talks with the group.

Boko Haram launched its insurgency in 2009, aiming to create an Islamic state. Its campaign has spread to the neighbouring countries of Chad, Cameroon and Niger, but it has been severely weakened in the last few years due to regional military pressure and has lost most of the territory it once held.