The president of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, has said Al-Qaeda and Boko Haram are taking advantage of poverty in North-East Nigeria, to recruit new members.

Akufo-Addo stated this on Monday, while on a working visit to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission in Abuja.

According to him, the insurgents were also making inroads in the Lake Chad Basin, Mali and the Greater Sahel.

“This is most worrying, because surrogates of Al-Qaeda in the Sahel and Boko Haram militants operating around the Lake Chad Basin, the two most active terrorist groups in West Africa, are exploiting the unacceptable levels of poverty in these areas, in the recruitment and indoctrination of youth,” Akufo-Addo said.

The Ghanaian president called for a strong regional approach to contain the growing threats of terrorist and extremist activities.

“‘You will recall that, on 12th September, 2019, ECOWAS organised, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, an Extraordinary Summit on Eradication of Terrorism in ECOWAS. Following the summit, a 2020 to 2024 Plan of Action was adopted by the 56th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government in December, 2019, in Abuja. To this end, one billion dollars (US$1 billion) was programmed for the financing of activities in the Action Plan. We have to intensify our efforts to ensure that the Plan of Action is well financed, with a view to ridding our community of terrorism,” he added.