Nigeria’s ambassador to the United States, Mr. Ade Adefuye, has criticised Washington for refusing to sell “lethal” weapons to the country to fight the Boko Haram insurgency.

Nigeria needs support to deliver the “killer punch”, not “light jabs” against the Boko Haram sect, Adefuye said.

His comments came as the militants seized Mahia town.

The US has previously ruled out heavily arming the Nigerian military because of its alleged poor human rights record.

US laws ban the sale of lethal weapons to countries whose military are accused of gross human rights abuses.

But Adefuye said the accusations were based on “half-truths”, rumours and exaggerated accounts, which were being spread by political opponents ahead of the elections.

“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,” 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.

The envoy 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.

•Adapted from a National Mirror report. Photo shows Ambassador Adefuye with US President Obama.