11/11/4, "Boko Haram crisis: Nigeria fury over US arms refusal," BBC
"Nigeria's ambassador to
the US has criticised Washington for refusing to sell his government
"lethal" weapons to fight militant Islamists.
His comments came as the militants seized the north-eastern Mahia town.
The US has previously ruled out heavily arming the Nigerian military because of its alleged poor human rights record.
Meanwhile, Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan has formally declared himself as the governing People's Democratic Party's candidate (PDP) presidential candidate for February's election at a colourful ceremony in the capital, Abuja....
"The US government has up till today refused to grant Nigeria's request to purchase lethal equipment that would have brought down the terrorists within a short time,'' Mr Adefuye told members of the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations.
"We find it difficult to understand how and why, in spite of the US presence in Nigeria with their sophisticated military technology, Boko Haram should be expanding and becoming more deadly,'' he added.
Mr Adefuye said Boko Haram was Nigeria's equivalent of the Islamic State group, and threatened the nation's "territorial integrity".
"There is no use giving us the type of support that enables us to deliver light jabs to the terrorists when what we need to give them is the killer punch," he said.
"A friend in need is a friend indeed. The true test of friendship is in times of adversity," he added....
In April, Boko Haram sparked global outrage by abducting more than 200 girls from a boarding school in Chibok town in Borno state....
He says the children have converted to Islam, are learning to memorise the Koran
and have been married off.
The US, China, UK and Israel had promised to help Nigeria track down the girls."
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