Nigeria's ambassador slams US refusal of arms to fight Boko Haram.

Nigeria's ambassador to Washington Adebowale Ibidapo Adefuye,has blasted the United States for refusing to sell his country the weapons needed to deliver "the killer punch" to defeat Boko Haram militants. In a speech made public Tuesday, Ambassador Adebowale Adefuye also dismissed as "rumors, hear-says and exaggerated accounts" allegations of human rights abuses by the Nigerian army in its crackdown on the Islamist extremists.

"The Nigerian leadership..... are not satisfied with the scope, nature and content of the United States' support for us in our struggle against terrorists," Adefuye told members of the Council on Foreign Relations on Monday.


 His speech was posted Tuesday on the embassy website on the same day that President Goodluck Jonathan announced he would stand again for re-election, vowing to defeat Boko Haram. "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," Adefuye said.

 A small team of US military and State Department advisors has been in Nigeria for months seeking to help track down some 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in mid-April.