ABUJA (AFP) - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Nigeria on Thursday to meet President Goodluck Jonathan as part of her tour of Africa, with talks expected to include a worsening Islamist insurgency.

Clinton will spend several hours in the Nigerian capital Abuja before travelling to Ghana for the funeral of president John Atta Mills.

She has been on an African tour since July 31, having already visited Senegal, Uganda, South Sudan, Kenya, Malawi and South Africa. She is also expected to briefly visit Benin.

Her visit to Nigeria comes with Jonathan under growing pressure to stop the violence in the northern and central regions of the country.

Islamist militant group Boko Haram has killed more than 1,400 people in northern and central Nigeria since 2010, according to Human Rights Watch.