Nigeria’s top political representative in the United States, Dr. Taiwo Ajibolu Balofin, has told the U.S. Congress that the widespread killings and kidnappings in parts of Nigeria are being mischaracterised as religious persecution, insisting that current data shows criminal banditry—not faith-based violence—is driving most attacks.

Balofin, Chairman of APC USA and official U.S. spokesman for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, delivered the remarks on Thursday before the House Subcommittee on Africa, chaired by Rep. Chris Smith.

He opened his testimony by acknowledging the suffering of both Christian and Muslim communities, noting that even members of his own family have lost relatives, homes and churches to violence. But he said Congress “deserves the full truth, not a partial picture.”

According to Balofin, four realities defined Nigeria’s current security landscape.

First, he said independent institutions—including the International Crisis Group, ACLED, the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Council on Foreign Relations—agree that violence in the North-West and North-Central has shifted from Boko Haram’s religious insurgency to criminal enterprises built around kidnapping-for-ransom, extortion and land conflict.

He noted that more than 60 per cent of recorded abductions in Zamfara, Kaduna and Katsina this year occurred in Muslim communities.

Second, Balofin argued that the Tinubu administration is combating insecurity “on an unprecedented scale,” with expanded troop deployments, increased aerial operations using U.S.-supplied Super Tucano aircraft, and new peace and stabilisation initiatives that have “rescued thousands of hostages of every faith.”

These efforts, he said, have contributed to a 28 per cent drop in communal-violence fatalities compared to the previous year.

Third, he warned that as Nigeria heads toward the 2027 elections, political actors may attempt to weaponise genuine suffering. He urged the Subcommittee to maintain its tradition of relying on verified, multi-source reporting.

Fourth, he cautioned against broad punitive U.S. measures, which he said would undermine joint security operations and hand extremists a propaganda victory. “Partnership, not sanctions, saves the most lives fastest,” he said.

Balofin proposed three immediate steps to strengthen cooperation: A joint U.S.–Nigeria Religious Freedom and Security Working Group, scaling up USAID-backed community resilience projects that have reduced violence in southern Kaduna, and creating a transparent Victims of Violence Trust Fund to support affected Christians and Muslims equally.

He closed by praising Chairman Smith’s long-standing advocacy for persecuted Christians and urged Congress to “champion the full truth” while supporting a strong U.S.–Nigeria partnership.

On behalf of President Tinubu, he said, “220 million Nigerians simply want peace.”